Percy Jackson and the Onslaught of Oceanus
by loganmccarrey
Summary: Percy Jackson awakes in an Atlantean hospital after the attack on the Princess Andromeda ends in a massive explosion. He is quickly sucked into his father's conflict as Oceanus continues to pound Atlantis with his armies. Will Percy be able to defend his father's home and the surface? Or will Kronos sweep through Manhattan with no one to challenge him?
1. Chapter 1

Alright so here goes to my first time writing a story… No promises on quality or anything but if you like do please tell me and if you hate it that's ok too! Rip it to shreds if you want I want to see where I need to improve.

**Percy's Pov:**

I awoke in a room lit by a bright white light floating at the ceiling. As I tried to sit up a pounding sensation of pain erupted across my entire body and I quickly fell back into the soft sheets of the bed. Once the pain subsided I realized I had no idea where I was and shifted my weight to look out the window. What I saw caused my jaw to drop. Tall buildings made of coral and marble spread out across the ocean floor as mermen and women swam between them. Beautiful schools of fish glistened in the light of the same white orbs that lit my room. I realized with a shock that I was in Atlantis, home of my father. I was taken out of my stupor by the ground shaking noise of an explosion and suddenly a building only a couple hundred feet from me blew up as a giant sea serpent came crashing through. I could feel the foundation of my room shaking as the door flew open to reveal a tall cyclops with a nasty scar running down the length of his face.

"Master Perseus we need to evacuate this hospital now!" he yelled over the sea serpent's roars of pain.

He swam over to me and helped me to my feet as the sea serpent continued to writhe on the ocean floor. I could see hundreds of mermen and cyclops crawling over it desperately searching for a weak point in the beast's scaly armor. My view quickly shifted to a long corridor as the cyclops pretty much dragged my body out of the room.

"Why has the ocean not healed my body yet?" I cried out in pain as it felt like swords were digging into legs with every step.

"The explosion from the ship greatly damaged your body Master," the cyclops explained. "Even with the help of your father's powers you have still been immobilized for a full week."

Even as the cyclops said this I could feel the power of the ocean coursing through my veins again, and it soon became less painful to walk. The cyclops kicked open a door leading into a garden on the ground level of the hotel and led me as fast as he could outside. The sea serpent was starting to regain its strength now, and with a powerful swipe of its tail took out a squadron of cyclops, who cried out as they dissolved into dust. I jerked my head to see the beast and saw a familiar figure leading five squadrons of cyclops in a desperate charge against the serpent. I realized with a start that the leader was Tyson, my half-brother, but what was he doing in a battle? Father had said that he confined Tyson to the armory as he felt Tyson was not ready for battle quite yet. I was jerked out of my thoughts by a roar from the beast that shattered half the windows on a nearby building as it snatched up three cyclops with its massive jaw. The remaining cyclops faltered for a second before continuing their suicide mission against the beast.

"We have to help them, I will not let Tyson die while I sit over here!" I exclaimed as I pushed myself away from the cyclops helping me.

"My lord you are in no condition to fight that monster!" the cyclops responded. "Plus your father will have my head if both you and Tyson fall in battle!"

I ignored him as I reached into my pocket and felt the familiar touch of my pen. I uncapped it and it grew into the bright shining sword known as Riptide. With a defiant cry I used the water around me as a jump start and shot towards the beast. I watched as it reared its ugly head back for another strike at the approaching cyclops force, and sent a jet of water right before it struck. My powers proved only to annoy the beast however, as it turned its massive head towards me and stared me down with giant yellow eyes. Tyson screamed out as the monster shot towards me and I put myself in a defensive stance to counter it. Yet my body suddenly doubled over as it was racked with pain and the serpent struck, sensing my weakness. I desperately tried to swim away but suddenly was trapped in the beast's throat as it closed its mouth around me. The pain finally subsided allowing me to look around my surroundings. With only my sword for light I realized I was in the stomach of the beast. I heard nothing except for a distant boom that repeated every second or so. I came to the realization that it was the beast's heart and swam towards it, determined to take this foul creature down with me. As I was about to round a corner I heard the sudden whining of telekhines.

"Why do we always get the worst job assignments," one of them cried out. "I mean really, anything that did not get ripped to shreds by the beast's teeth is surely going to die from this awful stench!"

"Quiet Fool!" another one responded. "Oceanus entrusted us with the defense of this serpent's heart, and so that is what we are going to do."

"Well I am sorry to say you guys have bad luck," I said as the rounded the corner causing the 2 monsters to jump back. "Because that beast's heart is going to stop beating if it is the last thing I do."

With that I lunged forward instantly cutting down one of the telekhines who had lazily left his sword laying on the floor. The other one raised his and howled at me as he charged me, but with one swift move I disarmed him and ran Riptide through his abdomen, watching as he fell to the ground. With the guards disposed of I climbed onto the top of the heart, and with a defiant cry of "For Poseidon" I sank my sword into the heart. Blood spewed out of the cut like a fire hydrant and I was thrown to the ground as I could hear the serpent howl in pain. I managed to get to my feet as the monster began to squirm back and forth, desperately trying to reduce the pain caused from the internal bleeding. I swam to the side and began to hack at the serpent's inside layer of skin until I saw the blue hue of the ocean permeate the stomach of the beast. As I stuck my arm through a powerful hand gripped my arm and yanked me out of the beast and into a hug.

"Ow! Tyson I am alive but I will not be for long if you continue to crush me!" I yelled out as my brother crushed my body with his massive figure.

"Percy no longer eaten by giant sea beast!" Tyson cried out as the remainder of his forces crowded around him in a protective circle.

"Yes yes I escaped now please let me breathe," I begged as Tyson finally released his iron grip. I looked at him and saw the ornate battle armor that was marred by the signs of battle. "Dad is letting you fight?" I said as I raised my eyebrow

Tyson blushed saying, "Well Daddy told me to stay in the armory but the evil monsters attacked during lunch so we grabbed our sticks and tools and fought them off!"

With that he showed me his "stick", a 4 foot club that had seen better days. Our reunion was cut short by a plume of Greek fire raising from the center of the city and Tyson gasped saying,

"That came from Daddy's position!"

"Well then let us go find out what is brave enough to challenge Poseidon," I said proudly as we swam with the rest of Tyson's forces towards the ever growing sound of battle.

That's all for now guys, I'm trying to keep as many characters in character as I can. I don't know, it just feels wrong to change a character's persona after reading about them for so long now. But hey that's what fanfiction is for. Once again leave a review if you did (or didn't) like my story and we'll see how long this goes for.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so I had more people actually favorite this than I expected so we'll continue the tale. I'll try and make the following chapters a little longer so y'all have more to read while I get more chapters out. In the meantime enjoy!

**Percy's Pov:**

Tyson and I swam into the center courtyard followed by his forces. We came to a stop as we watched the carnage unfold before us. The courtyard was overrun by telekhines that seemed to be pouring out of a breach in the northern section. Poseidon was entrenched near the southern side, surrounded by his honor guard who held off any advancing monsters while Poseidon shot beam after beam of energy from his trident. In front of his honor guard were line after line of cyclops with shields locked in a tight wall. One cyclops, who was a good two feet taller than the others, shouted, "SPEARS!", as jagged points shot through the shield wall. With a triumphant cry and a wave of his hand the spears met the charging telekhines, bringing dozens of them to the ground. Yet more of the demons replaced their fallen even as the lead cyclops repeated his command.

"That's General Carn, leader of the 1st Cyclops Battalion and Daddy's chief advisor," Tyson explained. "If the enemy has made it this far that means the front wall has fallen."

I gritted my teeth looking for an opening in the horde to reach my father. I had to figure out what he needed me to do to repel the enemy. The enemy had realized that they could not breach the shield wall and had fallen back to their archers who were peppering Poseidon's men with an unending stream of arrows.

"We have to take out those archers before they decimate our side," I muttered. "Tyson, get your men ready, we're going straight for the enemy lines."

"Um Percy there are a lot of them and not a lot of us," he responded with little confidence.

"I know buddy but if we do not stop those archers Dad's forces will not be able to help us push them out of this courtyard," I said.

I raised my sword and with a cry began to swim towards the enemy, followed closely by the cyclops. A wave of arrows flew towards us which I swiped out of the air with my sword. A few of Tyson's men responded by throwing javelins which fell a few of the infantry telekhines. That got their attention off of Poseidon, which I was happy about, but unfortunately I now had about three hundred angry monsters charging towards me. I came to a halt as the first telekhine reached us, quickly running him through with Riptide before stopping another from stabbing my leg. Tyson and his men formed a defensive circle with me as we moved closer to the lines of archers still firing on the main force.

**Poseidon's Pov:**

The beasts had breached my command center about an hour ago and we had been fighting ever since to repel them. I killed row after row in revenge for my loyal subjects who fell defending my realm but it seemed that Oceanus had an unlimited supply of men to throw at me. Even now I could see the desperation set in with my men, but luckily I had General Carn there to keep them from being routed. He quickly took over command of the front and began repelling the enemy with a spear wall. He was about to give the order to charge until the ocean became filled with arrows flying toward us. I quickly raised a defensive shield but some arrows still managed to break through felling many cyclops. After having the line lock shields in a turtle formation, Carn retreated to the minimal cover I had.

"Sir it appears we have reinforcements coming in from the medical center," Carn stated.

"That's impossible Carn," I said. "The only forces I sent there were the ones evacuating the hospital, and they were told to retreat to the emergency field hospitals."

I watched as Carn shifted his weight nervously saying, "Ah sir it appears the reinforcements are the evacuation force, and they are being led by Tyson and your half-blood son."  
"WHAT," I roared as I shifted my gaze to the incoming men. Sure enough, there were my fool hardy sons followed by about twenty cyclops charging straight towards the enemy force. I watched as they crashed into the enemy, quickly forming a defensive ring as they worked their way towards the archers. "Gods dam those fools, I swear I will lock them in my palace after this! General, order the men to advance, if they are going to make such a stupid play they are not going to do it without our support."

Carn smiled as he turned towards the men and gave the order to advance. My forces surged forward with a thunderous cry as the enemy turned towards us and desperately tried to form a line. Percy saw this and shot a stream of water towards them causing many to fall. Even in my anger I had to respect how strong my son had become. I only wish he had a few more years to train, but this is war and war respects no wishes. I threw my trident, crushing multiple ranks of telekhines before it came flying back into my hands. A giant crab descended from the skies with a roar and I raised my trident as the tip glowed with power. But before I could blast the monster into the depths it was intercepted by Briares the Hekatonkniere who disappeared from view as all one hundred of hands pummelled the beast into submission. I smiled as I returned to the conflict in front of me. Briares has played a pivotal role in the defense of my realm, and he had regained all of his confidence after Percy rescued him last summer. I returned my attention to the battle in front of me to see Tyson crush the skull of a telekhine while Percy decapitated one and cut the sword hand off another before running his sword through its neck. The rest of the beasts had begun to retreat out of their entrance, sensing that the battle was lost. I ordered my men to hold before they over extended and commanded Percy to do the same with his. Percy looked at me with a smile that was wiped off his face when he met my steely gaze.

**Percy's Pov:**

I felt a sensation of joy as the last of the telekhines scurried away to whatever hole they came from. I turned to my father expecting him to mirror my emotions only to be met with a disapproving glare. I suddenly remembered the cyclops whose sole job it was to keep me away from battle and turned to see him inspecting his javelin with great interest. I felt Poseidon swim over and turned to him.

"Hey Dad thanks for the assist with the fight!" I said as I tried to distract him from the fact that I was very much not where he wanted me to be.

He sighed and shook his head asking, "Percy why is it that I can always find you in the center of a conflict no matter what?"

Before I had time to answer a dolphin swam up from behind Poseidon and began to converse with him. I could not clearly hear them but I caught "Delphin" and "overran" before Dad beckoned for the dolphin to leave. He turned to me with a distraught expression on his face and called the cyclops who led the formation over.

"Take any men who can fight and go shore up Lord Delphin's lines, Oceanus has restructured his attack after his failure here." Poseidon said as the cyclops nodded and began to round men up.

I flexed my sword arm and was about to join them when Poseidon put an arm on my shoulder holding me back.

"You and Tyson will stay here and inform me of how you joined this war young man," he said sternly.

I sighed and clicked Riptide back into pen form and put it in my pocket.

"Father you cannot expect me to run when my brother and his men are fighting massive sea monsters," I pleaded with him.

Now it was Tyson's turn to examine his club as Poseidon turned towards him.

"And pray tell me Tyson, what exactly were you doing fighting when I told you to return to the armory with the others?"

Tyson kicked at a small fish swimming by saying, "Monsters attacked the armory Daddy and me and the others fought back."

Poseidon gave up and shook his head before turning back to me saying, "Well at least you are ok, come, we will return to my palace where we can decide what will happen next."

He waved his hand and we dissolved into the water reappearing in what I assumed was the palace war room. Mermen scrambled around informing generals of new information while others swam off to deliver messages throughout the field. When they all saw Poseidon they stopped and bowed before returning to what they were doing. One of them approached Dad saying,

"Lord Poseidon we managed to evacuate all but two of the hospitals. That leaves us with thirty thousand men in the field hospitals and another half million still able to fight."  
"Thank you for this report Surgeon Kork, please update me again once we find out how many of the injured will be able to return to combat," Poseidon responded as he walked up to a massive table that showed an aerial view of the battle.

I watched in real time as holograms of sea monsters like the one I killed swept across the field decimating mermen and cyclops alike. Every so often one of the behemoths would fall but I could not tell who had the advantage if anyone did. The battle was massive, taking place dozens of leagues away from the palace itself. The palace overlooked a massive field where the hospitals were. I noticed tiny white stones on the ground and realized they were graves, hastily dug to keep up with the destruction of the war. There had to be tens of thousands of them, each representing someone else that Kronos was responsible for. I steeled my gaze as I returned my attention to the table.

"Send the 14th and 75th Mermen division to support the eastern wall," my father told one of his advisors. "And tell that dam fool Eurick to stop overextending his men, Oceanus clearly is leading him into a trap."

The advisor nodded before retreating from the table. I took his place as my father turned to me saying, "Percy I am sorry that you must experience Atlantis in this way, Oceanus has been relentless in his attempts to wrest control of the seas from me."

"But Daddy has stopped every attack!" Tyson exclaimed proudly earning a smile from many of the men around him.

My father however did not share this optimism, instead furrowing his brow saying, "Yes well Oceanus has sent many monsters I understood to be locked away in the dark depths, but I now know I have been a fool to take the millenium of peace for granted. Percy, what do you remember of your mission against Kronos before you arrived here?"

"I remember the Princess Andromeda and… Beckendorf." I managed to say before choking up.

I cleared my throat and continued, "Father, the cyclops told me its been a week since then, what has happened at camp?"

Poseidon sighed and led me away from the table gesturing for everyone else to return to their duties, including Tyson who began to speak to another cyclops.

"Percy, the camp is divided. Some of them believe you to be dead and have begun to fear that their one chance against my father is gone. Others, like the girl Annabeth, still hold a sliver of hope that you will return. Yet even they are immobilized by their thoughts." Poseidon said as he waved his hand.

The water shimmered before showing the familiar view of the beach at camp. Annabeth sat near the water, absentmindedly drawing in the sand as she looked out over the horizon.

"Come on Seaweed Brain I know you did not die," she whispered as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

A figure clad in black came down behind her and I realized it was Nico di Angelo once he sat in the sand next to her.

"Annabeth, the counselors are preparing for another war council and the Athena cabin has no clue if you are representing them or not," he said tenderly.

I could not believe the kindness I saw from Nico. The last time I saw him was when he showed up to my mom's apartment ranting to me about the only way to defeat the lord of time. I still remembered the wild look in his eyes that day as he pleaded with me to come with him. But the idea was so crazy, so dangerous, I did not even know if it was worth the risk. I told him I would decide, but then the mission with Beckendorf came and I never had the time to properly think about it.

"No! I need to stay here in case he comes. Send Malcolm, or Kenzie. Either of them know what I think about everything, they can represent me," Annabeth exclaimed as she focused her gaze on the water, almost willing me to return.

Nico shook his head saying, "Look I understand you are afraid about the war, but we cannot cease operations for one guy. We will not win that way, and Percy would not want you to be held up on him. Prophecies are tricky, nobody can truly interpret them, but what we can do is fight Kronos tooth and nail until he goes back to Tartarus the hard way."

"I. Am. Not. Going," Annabeth growled as Nico stood up and brushed the sand off himself.

The image faded away as Nico walked away from Annabeth, who still sat on the edge of the water. I felt sick to my stomach as I turned away. Annabeth was absolutely ruined by my disappearance. My eyes shining with tears, I turned back to my father.

"What… What do I do," I pleaded. "The camp's morale is plummeting without me, but you need every hand you can get here."

As if to prove my point the entire room shook as a giant at least three times the size of Briares collapsed to the ground on the hologram, crushing an entire platoon of mermen. Poseidon winced in pain as if he could feel every life lost and looked at me with understanding.

"Percy, I will not lie when I say I want you to stay here. You are right, the war has dragged on now and Oceanus seems to tire not of battle. But I will understand if you wish to return to the surface. Do me a favor and take a night to think about it however. In the morning we will meet again and discuss what you plan," Poseidon said as he moved back to the table and began rapid conversations with his generals.

I realized how tired I was as my adrenaline finally ran out and I slumped into a room filled with cots, collapsing into one as I was swamped by dreams.

_Oceanus studied the parchment the telekhine had brought him before crumbling it and tossing it aside. _

_ "So the son of Poseidon has finally resurfaced after his adventure against the ship. Good. My victory will be even sweeter as I cut his throat in front of his father while Atlantis burns around them. He slammed his staff into the ground as cracks began to appear before giant sea monsters began to crawl out. They advanced towards Atlantis followed by legions of telekhine. _

_ "BRING ATLANTIS TO THE GROUND, AND SLAUGHTER ANY FOOL WHO DARES TO SIDE WITH THAT SO CALLED 'KING OF THE SEA', Oceanus screamed as the hordes wailed into the depths. _

I awoke with a start realizing the wails I heard in my dreams could be heard here in the palace as well. All around me mermen and cyclops ran gathering their weapons and armor as conch horns blared in the distance. I shoved my way to the command center and found my father gripping the side of the hologram table until his knuckles turned white.

"Sir, Oceanus has sent the largest force yet, it numbers close to fifty thousand telekhines with fifty creatures of the deep supporting them," General Carn reported as he tightened the straps of his armor.

"Deploy every cyclops brigade we have available. Prepare the trebuchets and tell the archers to position themselves in areas they can slow the enemies advance," my father barked as messengers scurried away.

He looked up and saw me, briefly smiling before the stress reappeared on his face.

"Percy! It seems the war will wait not for your decision. Did a night of rest clear your mind," my father asked.

"Dad I cannot leave you to fight this battle alone," I stated confidently.

A smile appeared as my father clapped his hands and two cyclops appeared from the shadows, carrying with them an ornate set of armor that glimmered with blue light in the palace lights. The armor appeared to be several layers thick and looked like it could stop even the sharpest blade from penetrating the wearer's skin.

"Well if my son is going to fight in the largest conflict of Atlantis' history, he will not do so without the armor of a prince," my father boomed. "This armor was forged from Atlantean crystal, the strongest substance found in the sea. Do not be fooled by the cumbersome appearance, the armor is extremely light while still protecting you."

The cyclops assisted me in fitting the armor and as my father said, it seemed to weigh no more than my camp t shirt I wore underneath. The bracers had jagged edges on them for melee combat, and the gloves fit perfectly around my hands and seemed to glue Riptide to them making it impossible for me to be disarmed. The final piece was the helm, a simple headpiece adorned with tridents on either side. As I pulled the helmet down a protective mesh strapped across my face, covering everything except for my eyes. As I admired my armor a final cyclops came forth with a shield with a bright white crystal stamped in the center. As I took the shield from him I felt the power of the sea course through me, more powerful than ever before.

"Atlantean power crystals my son, extremely rare and just as powerful," Poseidon explained. "They feed on the ocean for their strength, so you should be able to constantly utilize its power here. Now go with Carn, you and him will be on the front lines."

"What about Tyson," I asked.

"Tyson will be going to the ωκεανό pass, I suspect Oceanus will try to sneak a force through there while his main force meets us at the fields," my father explained. "Now go, Oceanus' forces appear and I must return to my advisors."

And with a final goodbye I boarded a hippocampi with General Carn and raced to the front gate where our defense was awaiting us. The cyclops forces roared in approval as I appeared, shaking their weapons in the air.

"Many of them have heard tales of you, Son of Poseidon," Carn explained. "They see you as one of their own, a true honor in my people's culture."

The roars were cut short by the sight of the enemy on the horizon. Telekhines raced across the field wielding evil looking scimitars and javelins dripping with poison. The ground shook as the first of the giant monsters appeared, a massive sea crab that was easily forty feet tall. The crab shrieked, cutting waves through the ocean and causing a few of Poseidon's men to shift back. Carn simply smiled and turned toward his fellow brothers.

"Men! This battle will be talked about for centuries to come. It is up to you who talks about it. Will it be your children? Or will it be Oceanus' monsters who threaten everything we have?," Carn roared as the cyclops watched him. "Defend your home! Defend your honor! But most importantly, Defend! Your! Family!"

The cyclopes screamed in approval, bashing their weapons against their shields as Carn and I lead the march towards the incoming onslaught. I pulled my helmet lower as I calmed my nerves and prepared for battle. Carn suddenly shot forward and I followed him with the rest of our forces close behind. The entire ocean seemed to fall into a frenzy as my father's army charged the enemy. I pushed any thought of camp or the surface away as the two armies came to contact, and I soon lost myself in a blur of telekhines as I fought alongside Carn, carving our way through the never ending horde.

Alright so a little bit longer this time, but now Percy's involvement in the Battle for Atlantis is really kicking off. I'm gonna try to avoid making him too OP but I figured the armor was a must seeing as Poseidon would not send him out fight without something to back him up. We'll see how Carn and Percy do in the next chapter which I'll hopefully push out in the next week or so.


	3. Chapter 3

And here we go, Chapter 3 bois and girls. Coronavirus is taking everyone out but I'm still here so the chapters will continue.

**Percy's Pov:**

I hacked and slashed my way through the endless hordes, vaguely aware of Carn a couple feet to my right. We came upon a rock outcropping and stopped, breathing hard as we took stock of the situation. I could barely hear him over the clamour of battle as he shouted

"We need to take out that dam beast before it shreds through our men!"

I nodded as the crab slammed one of its legs into the grounds, sending cyclopes and telekhines alike flying. I followed Carn's lead as he swam from our cover, decapitating any monster that came in his path. As we came upon the beast, it spotted us and roared in anger, trying desperately to strike us. I used the water around me to shoot me like a rocket towards the head of the crab, slashing at its right eye as I went by. The monster recoiled and shrieked a cry of pain that cut through the water. It swiped at me as I sped back to the sea bed, regrouping with General Carn.

"That thing is going to need more than my sword to bring it down," I gasped as the crab recovered, shaking its head before going back to striking the ground.

Carn gritted his teeth saying, "Well then let's hope the jewel your father placed in that shield is as powerful as he says."

With that I nodded my head in understanding and raised my shield towards the center of the crab where I figured the heart would be. I slammed Riptide against the shield, causing it to shake and glow a vibrant white color before shooting out a beam of pure energy. The beam cut through the giant beast, severing the body in two as blood clouded the ocean. The telekhines looked on in horror as the main part of their attack was eviscerated, causing many of them to flee. Carn's men began to cheer, only to cut short as the next of Oceanus' beasts appeared, a giant serpent that shot through the blood, chopping up half a platoon of cyclopes.

The telekhines renewed their attack, inspired by the return of a sea monolith. Carn and I retreated back to the line of Cyclopes, cutting down any enemies that came in our path. The shield line opened just a crack and we slipped through, panting as we recovered in relative safety.

Carn pointed to the canyon Oceanus' forces were pouring out of saying, "Son of Poseidon, do you think you can seal off that entrance if we get close enough?"

"Yea, probably," I said as I squinted towards the area. "

"Good, take twenty men and flank the enemy. I will distract the main force for as long as I can," Carn said before turning to the shield wall.

"PUSH," he screamed and his forces heaved forward, turning many of the telekhine to dust.

With a roar Carn surged forward and the cyclopes followed, engaging the enemy head on once again.

I turned towards the canyon. I needed to succeed if we were to win this battle. The cyclopes Carn assigned to me waited for my command and I turned to them saying,

"Right. We need to get there as fast as possible. The more time we take, the more lives lost on our side."

The cyclopes nodded, knowing the grim reality of their mission. We were the hail mary. If we didn't take out that canyon, Oceanus' forces would pour out unhindered and eventually over run us. I beckoned to my group to follow me as I swam in a wide arc around the battle. Every once in a while a distracted telekhine would spot us, but I had a couple archers with me who silently put him down without his brethren noticing. After what seemed like hours of swimming from rock formation to formation, we finally came about a hundred meters from the entrance to the canyon. We could see the telekhine force constantly streaming out, followed by a goliath beast every thirty minutes or so. Many of them moved slowly, giving Carn's forces time to surround and bring down the ones already on the field. They seemed to be holding their own, but I could see that they were slowly being pushed back.

I studied the wall of stone in front of me, looking for any weak spots that would make the job easier. Finally I spotted a large crack near the top, and decided that was the best place to start.

"I'm going to get closer so I can concentrate, I need all of you to cover me and back me up if I get swarmed," I said to the cyclopes as they nodded, the archers already setting up in various places.

I swam down the edge of the rock wall, keeping my head low as the enemy was now only about fifty meters in front of me. I came to a stop about twenty meters from the entrance, stopping in a crater to catch my breath. Turning towards my target, I focused all my powers on the water in between the crack, forcing it to expand and push on the rock more. With a massive crack, chunks of the wall started to come down, crushing many of the telekhine in its path. The rest began to panic, pushing each other out of the way as they desperately tried to avoid the rock slide.

My entire body trembled from the stress, but with one final push the wall exploded, raining rock pieces the size of cars down on the entrance. The rear lines of the enemy attacking Carn turned and watched in shock as their reinforcements were effectively cut off. Carn and his men roared in approval and attacked with renewed vigor. Telekhines began to retreat under the onslaught of the newly energized cyclopes, and I beckoned to my small force to join me. As they swam down to me I stepped out of the crater, sword in hand as I grimly watched the retreating force come to me.

With a cry I slammed Riptide into the ground, sending waves of water that threw many monsters off their feet, slowing down the ones behind them. I shot towards the enemy, cutting through their ranks like a rocket as my men caught up to me, forming a defensive line that slowly worked its way through the telekhine. Eventually we met Carn's forces in the middle, effectively cutting Oceanus' armies in half.

"Well son of Poseidon, it seems the rumours are true," Carn said as he clapped me on the back. "Now, let's kill the rest of these fools and return to your father victorious!"

I smiled as I stabbed a telekhine in the chest, pushing it to the ground as it dissolved. The rest of the battle went fairly smoothly, save for the last few giant beasts that ran through two companies of men before we managed to bring them down.

It felt strange to hear only the dull roar of our men shifting around compared to the ear splitting noise of battle that filled my life for the past half day or so. Carn swam up to me saying,

"Perseus! Your father has instructed us to return to his palace to update him on the battle."

I nodded my head and with that we set off, leaving our army to set up camp lest Oceanus' forces returned to contest the land. Carn and I spoke while we travelled, with him asking me questions on the surface. I told him about the grim state of camp, and how more and more demigods were switching sides due to Kronos' deceit. Carn shook his head saying,

"My loyalty to your father is unquestionable, and though it has been far too long since I've seen the surface, I still believe the gods to be far too comfortable. It shouldn't have taken the return of the Titan Lord to spur them into action."

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do," I complained in response. "My father's kingdom is divided by war and I can't imagine what would happen if Oceanus wrestled control from him, but at the same time all my friends at camp have to battle the greatest threat to the gods by themselves."

"Perseus, I cannot pretend to know all the answers, all I know is you must do what you feel is the best decision in your heart," Carn responded.

And with that we swam in silence until we reached Posedion's palace, where we were greeted by Poseidon and the rest of his advisors.

"Ah my two greatest warriors! Tell me, how did the battle go? Did Oceanus make an appearance or does he still hide behind his armies like a coward," my father peppered.

I stepped forward with a triumphant aura saying, "Father we drove his armies back to the caves they came from and sealed off the canyon they were funneling through. That should hold Oceanus back for at least a couple days."

Everyone in the room cheered until an Iris message began to glimmer into existence in the center of the room. I stepped forward in shock as Tyson's face began to appear, the connection occasionally fizzling due to an explosion in the background.

"Hello! Hello? Can anyone hear me? My forces were ambushed! Please send help! We can't hold out for much longer," Tyson yelled over the roar of battle. He looked frantically to his right before roaring and swiping his hand through the message, the last image I saw was of him driving his stick into the heart of a telekhine.

I felt my blood begin to boil and I gripped my sword until my knuckles turned white. My father noticed this and put his hand in my arm.

"Perseus, I understand your anger. But you will not run in there without support," With that he beckoned to Carn to come over. "General Carn, assemble your finest warriors and join Perseus in the relief effort for Tyson and his men."

General Carn nodded with grim determination and began to rally his troops. I impatiently waited for what seemed like hours before he finally returned flanked by fifty of the biggest Cyclopes I had ever seen. The shortest one was still easily five feet taller than me and looked like he could take a hit from a Titan and keep fighting.

"Are we ready to go then," I asked Carn.

"Yes, We have Tyson's last position, it should only take us a hour or two to reach him," Carn responded.

With that I followed him and his men out of the palace, my father catching up to us before we left.

"Percy, keep a cool head. Your armor doesn't make you invincible and you're no help to Tyson and me if you're dead," Poseidon advised me.

I nodded before returning to Carn. We set off at a fast pace, with me using my powers to boost my speed to that of the Cyclopes. We travelled until I could no longer see my father's palace, something that seemed to make some of Carn's men uneasy. I realized this was no man's land, as we passed wreckage from previous battles. Siege weapons and armor floated listlessly through the ocean, the only disturbance being the occasional sea life that quickly swam away when they saw us.

"How much farther," I questioned Carn as we swam along.

"Intel tells us your brother should be right up ahead," Carn warned as he tightened his grip on his weapon.

I nodded as I uncapped Riptide, the light glow shining in my face as I strained to see ahead. The water grew darker as we descended deeper into the ocean, until I could barely see Carn ahead of me. Suddenly with a howl a telekhine launched himself from the darkness, and Carn quickly reacted by grabbing it by the throat and crushing its windpipe. His men quickly formed a defensive line behind Carn as he came to a halt, looking like he was meditating.

"I don't smell anymore," he muttered. "Something isn't right, telekhines never travel solo.

He seemed troubled by this, but shook his head as he began to swim forward, albeit at a slower pace than before. I heard a small moan ahead and started to move towards it with Carn following me. We came across a Cyclops sprawled against a boulder, armor ripped to shreds as he held his stomach, a broken sword lodged in.

"Soldier, what happened to General Tyson," I asked kneeling beside him.

"Ambushed… He was taken… Along… Others," he croaked.

"Where! Where were they taken," I demanded.

"Not normal… bright white… eyes," he rambled as his body began to shudder before crumbling to dust.

"What the hell? What bright eyes," I asked to no one in particular as I shifted away.

Carn seemed to be worried saying, "We should find a place to make camp, hopefully by morning visibility will improve."

I started to argue, but one look from Carn shut me up. It was a look of pure fear. If his men noticed they didn't say, instead fanning out to find a suitable camp. Eventually we settled upon a cave, tucked against a cluster of boulders that hid us well. I took first watch as the rest of the men settled in where they could. I thought about the look Carn gave me and shuddered, what could scare a cyclops the size of an oak tree?

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts I didn't even see the Iris message shimmer into view until Annabeth's voice worked into my head.

"PERCY," she was borderline yelling.

"Wha- Oh hi Annabeth," I said as I shifted to see her. She was dressed for combat, her armor over her camp shirt with her knife strapped to her belt and a shield I had never seen on her back.

"Where. THE HELL. Have you been," she demanded as I shrank from the look of anger. "Two weeks! Two weeks Percy! We've been trying to contact you and this is the first time it's worked!"

"Yea I'm sorry about that," I said sheepishly. "If it makes you feel better I was passed out in Poseidon's kingdom for a week of that."

Annabeth seemed to deflate a little at that, a look of worry replacing the angry one.

"Percy we thought you died," she trembled. "Charlie never came back and then Nico confirmed he died but he couldn't get a read on you. What happene?"

I caught her up on the past two weeks, leaving out the part where I saw her on the beach. Her eyes brightened when I told her about the gifts from my father.

"Atlantean armor is no joke," Annabeth said with a hint of jealously. "And to have a shield infused with an Atlantean crystal, Percy you'll be unstoppable when Kronos attacks Manhattan."

When she said that I raised my head.

"What do you mean 'attacks Manhatten'," I demanded.

"He's coming Percy. Awakening Typhon was just a distraction, Kronos is going to take olympus while it's virtually undefended. The camp is mobilizing right now, but there's not many of us. We need you," Annabeth begged.

I lowered my head saying, "Annabeth I can't. Poseidon can barely contain Oceanus and Tyson is captured. If my father loses Oceanus will drown the surface before Kronos gets close to Olympus."

She looked at me with anger saying, "Percy your father's kingdom doesn't matter if Olympus falls. He'll be reduced to a minor god if his seat of power is destroyed. This is what Kronos wants! Nico's already been called back by Hades to defend his realm. Kronos has sent waves of monsters into LA."

Even though I knew she was right I still felt my temperature rise saying, "And should I just abandon my brother?! Oceanus will torture him for information before sending him back to Tartarus," I spat.

Annabeth recoiled at my anger, something I felt bad about but didn't want to show.

"Look Annabeth, I need to be here. Tyson needs my help, I said quietly.

Annabeth angrily wiped a tear from her eye saying, "This is your flaw Percy! Kronos knows your dedication to family! He'll have Oceanus himself guard Tyson if he has to to keep you in the ocean."

"Well then I'll kill him," I said with a false sense of courage.

Annabeth just stared at me for a minute before saying, "Percy just please think about it. Talk to Tyson when you rescue him. He's smarter than he looks and I know he'll agree with me. I have to go, we're ready to go defend OUR family."

She swiped her hand through the message, her last comment stinging me. Who does she think she is, I thought angrily. I can't just abandon my brother, he's family. With that one of Carn's men came to relieve me, and I found my place in the cave, falling into a restless sleep.

Ok so it's been way too long since I've updated, but I'm back on it especially with the Coronavirus wrecking everyone's life. Stay safe and wash your hands!


	4. Chapter 4

Alright well we had close to 300 views in one day apparently so I'm actually super stoked and motivated to write now. Hopefully I keep doing what I'm doing because I'm just slapping words down without any real story line to follow so bear with me while I figure out this mess of a story :)

**Percy's POV:**

_I walked through the cave system, Riptide held in front of me as I peered around every corner. After stumbling along for a while I came into a massive circular room, ringed with massive statues of different beasts. Some of them I recognized from the battles I fought with Poseidon's army, but many more seemed to be more ancient than the gods themselves. A single throne sat in the center of the room, made of black coral. Upon the throne sat Oceanus, tossing his trident from hand to hand as he observed the interrogations in front of him._

_Lines of cyclopes kneeled on the ground in shackles as telekhines marched around them, occasionally striking them with whips. The whips had all sorts of evil twists, from poison to Greek fire that charred the prisoner's backs. At the front stood Tyson, supported by a stone pillar as blood dripped from his head. _

"_How much longer General? How much more pain need they go through," Oceanus asked, his voice dripping with venom. _

_Tyson raised his head saying, "My men know their loyalty Titan scum, they'd rather die than betray the true Lord of the ocean."_

_Oceanus simply laughed saying, "Bold words for someone whose life hangs in my hand, Cyclops. We'll put your men's loyalty to the test!" _

_Quick as lightning he threw his trident, decapitating three cyclopes before the weapon shot back to his hand. Tyson stiffened but said nothing, but I could sense his anger even from where I stood. _

_Oceanus suddenly turned to where I stood in the shadows saying, "I know you're there, bastard son of the sea! Come free your comrades! Or will you abandon them like you did the surface world? Three of them will die for every day you delay, and don't worry, I'll save your pathetic brother for last."_

_With that a current slammed into me, spinning me around until I couldn't see anything. _

I sprang to my feet, hand tightly gripping the shield that I had used as a support to sleep. Several of the cyclopes around me glanced, but quickly turned back to sharpening their weapons or eating what meager rations we brought with us. Carn came to me saying,

"What did you see Perseus?"

"Oceanus has my brother and his men," I said, my jaw gripped tightly. "He will execute three of them for every day we don't find him." 

"You know this will be a trap correct," Carn responded.

"Yes, and I don't care," I spat back.

With that he nodded and gathered his men to head out. We trekked along the ocean floor, visibility slightly better as small rays of sun managed to reach us. Suddenly I came to a stop as I pointed at an opening in the rock wall ahead of us.

"Oceanus was in a cave system, we need to start searching them. We can't afford to miss anything," I told Carn.

We came upon the entrance and looked in. It was a perfect place for a trap, we would have to walk one by one down the narrow hallways. Carn looked troubled to go in, but I reached out, trying to sense anything in the water. I couldn't feel anything at first, but then I reached further and felt something different, darker than the rest of the water.

"There's definitely something in there," I said as I turned to Carn.

He frowned, "Percy I can't send my men into the unknown on a feeling of yours, I'm sorry."

"Then I'll go in by myself, do some recon. If I'm not back in thirty minutes you can assume I got captured," I responded.

Carn sighed and waved me on. I smiled before entering the cave, holding Riptide in front of me for light. I went slowly, making as little noise as possible as I crept along the narrow passage. I halted as I stumbled over something, only to see it was the skeleton of a cyclops laying on the ground. I shuddered as the eye sockets bored into me and increased my pace as I moved along. Soon I felt the current move differently, as if it were pulling me further into the cave system. I relented, allowing the water to carry my further until I saw an opening ahead. Digging my feet into the ground, I regained control of my pace as I crept forward, peering into the room. Sure enough it was the same room from my dream, the only difference being that it was completely empty. Greek fire dimly glowed from torches mounted on the wall, but there seemed to be no other movement. I boosted myself forward, coming to a stop in front of Oceanus' throne. As I looked on I noticed several telekhines crawl into the room from holes in the wall and floor.

They surrounded me and raised their weapons. I counted about twenty of them, yet I wasn't worried. The bravest of them charged at me, screaming bloody murder until I slit his throat with my sword. I looked at the rest of the enemy who shifted uneasily before they all charged together. I dodged and weaved, cutting through them like paper until none of them stood anymore. A deep laugh echoed through the chamber as Oceanus swam into view.

"Oh I suppose I should have expected that outcome," he grinned as if he enjoyed watching me.

"Where's tyson," I spat at him, not wanting to play his game.

"Yes yes I suppose I can't kill him outright now that you're here," Oceanus mused before clapping his hands. Part of the floor fell away and a hidden floor raised up bearing Tyson and the remaining of his men. They looked bruised and battered but alive, which was the important part.

I locked eyes with Tyson who seemed happy to see me. Looking back at Oceanus I pointed my sword at his throat saying,

"Surrender now and I'll make your death quick."

Oceanus laughed, "So the famed son of the sea is just as arrogant as his father. Well if it's a fight you're looking for then it's a fight you'll get."

Screeches filled the room as telekhines poured into the room. They seemed faster than normal and when I focused on them I could see their eyes were pure white. I suddenly remembered the Cyclops we came across and remembered him say something about white eyes. I scowled and struck my shield with Riptide, engaging the crystal and firing a beam of energy at the horde. Many of them were vaporized instantly but the rest closed the distance before I could react.

I batted a claw away as I gutted another. But as I pulled my sword out of the monster's stomach it just looked at me before attacking again. I scowled as I stamped the ground, sending the unkillable telekhines flying back.

"What kind of twisted beasts are these," I demanded from Oceanus as the telekhines slowly got up.

"Bred to feel no pain, these monsters won't stop until their bodies are destroyed," Oceanus boasted with an evil glimmer in his eyes. "Your father has nothing that can counter them, and his weak willed army will flee in terror when they find they are harder to kill." And then once I've taken control of the seas, I'll turn my armies on the surface and set the world ablaze."

"You're an idiot if you think you'll make it past Poseidon," I retorted.

"Oh, are you going to stop me, child? You, who are all alone deep in my realm," Oceanus sneered.

"Oh but the young Perseus isn't alone," shouted Carn as him and his men poured into the room.

Oceanus scowled saying, "Enough games, now all of you will die."

And with that he pointed his trident at us and the telekhines screeched again, charging forward. I threw my shield like a boomerang, knocking one of the monsters to the ground before it shot back to me. A telekhine tackled one of Carn's men to the ground as it began to rip into the cyclops' chest. I decapitated the beast and helped the soldier to his feet.

"Aim for their heads, they feel no pain," I shouted above the carnage.

Carn nodded as he drove his weapon into an enemy's skull with enough force to drive it to the ground. He twisted the blade as the telekhine dissolved into sand. I saw Oceanus move towards Tyson and his men and I scowled, vaulting over the telekhines and leveling my sword at Oceanus. Oceanus merely smiled before throwing his trident at me with impossible speed. I just barely managed to bat it away before he tackled me to the ground, slamming my head into the stone floor. I bucked back, throwing him over my head before scrambling to my feet and sending a devastating swing toward his head. Having regained his weapon, he met strike with his own and we squared off, bodies shaking as we tried to overpower each other. Oceanus kicked sand up into my face and slashed at my shield while I was blinded. His trident glanced off the shield but still sent me back a good couple feet.

I twirled Riptide creating a small current before sending it hurtling towards Oceanus. He stumbled back and I took the opportunity to strike at his arm, drawing ichor on his skin. He merely laughed and we began our dangerous dance of sword on trident again. Carn and his men seemed to be handling the new threat quite well as I saw Carn crush a monster's throat with his hand before batting another into a wall. A couple of his men took the opportunity to free Tyson and his men and they were picking weapons from the fallen before joining the fray. Tyson was momentarily swarmed by the hellish monsters before shaking them off with a roar. I returned my focus to Oceanus as I dodged a devastating strike to my head.

"Percy! We need to get out of here," I heard Carn yell over the fighting.

I nodded before going on the offensive against Oceanus. I backed him into one of the corridors his men had crawled from, using my smaller form to my advantage in the narrow hallway. I kicked sand into his eyes and threw my shield, bouncing it off his head before slashing at his legs. He jumped back and I took the opportunity to point my shield towards the rock ceiling, using the crystal's power to collapse the ceiling trapping Oceanus on the other side. I heard him roar as I sprinted back into the main room, seeing Tyson rip the head off the last telekhine before turning to me.

"This is our only chance," I panted. "That won't hold him for long."

Carn led the charge as we headed back to the cave entrance. I could hear the howl of more telekhines behind us as we burst out into the opening. Several of Carn's men began pushing a boulder over to the entrance, and Tyson moved to help them. Just as I could see the claws of the monsters appearing from the cave, they sealed the entrance.

We moved to Atlantis as quickly as possible, my legs straining to keep up with the cyclops force. Finally, after what felt like a whole day, the gates came into view and we rushed inside. Poseidon came up to us, a worried look on his face until he saw Tyson. After that he broke out into a grin and swept him up in a hug. Tyson looked embarrassed but happy to see his dad again. Finally he turned to me and clapped me on the shoulder asking,

"And what of Oceanus?"

"Well he probably escaped by now but when I last saw him I buried him behind a pile of rock," I answered.

Poseidon seemed satisfied with that answer and dismissed Tyson and I, telling us to get some rest while he began to discuss with General Carn. I made my way to a rack once again and barely got my armor off before collapsing into bed. Tyson fell into the bunk beside me and I turned so I could see him.

"Percy, why are you down here? What's going on with camp," he asked.

"Camp is fine buddy, I decided to stay down here to help dad."

"But what about Annabeth and the others? Kronos is going to attack them without you."

"Yes but if Oceanus takes over the surface will fall regardless."

"Percy, without the seats of the gods nothing matters."

I was taken aback by how serious he sounded, and I had to remind myself that he had been fighting in a war for the better part of a year. But Annabeth shimmered into view in front of us before I could respond. Tyson and I both shot up as we saw the blood streamed across her face and heard the fighting in the background.

"PERCY! We're losing ground faster than we can hold it! Nico raised an army of the undead but Kronos is sweeping through our ranks! We need you!" Annabeth screamed desperately.

"Annabeth… I'm sorry," I stuttered.

"Percy please! He's going to kill all of us if you don't come. He's going to kill your mom!"

My blood turned to ice,

"What is my mother doing there," I demanded.

"Kronos put the entire island to sleep but awoke the mortals when Nico raised his army. Your mom is out here somewhere battling with us," Annabeth responded.

Before I could respond a massive explosion ripped through the connection and I was left looking at Tyson's grim face.

"Tyson.."

"Percy go. I will explain to father," he cut me off.

I nodded and gathered my stuff, strapping my armor on while Tyson ran out of the room. I found the nearest hippocampus and, after some bribery, got it to take me to Manhattan, my home.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey y'all, I started posting these chapters on WattPad as well under CeoOfBadWriting so if you guys enjoy that website more feel free to read it on there. I still can't believe how many views I'm getting but it really is motivating me to get into writing so thank you all.

**Percy's Pov: **

I clutched to the mane of the hippocampus as it shot across the water. I estimated that we were still about three hundred miles from Manhattan but we were closing that distance fast. Luckily the monster attacks died down after I got about fifty miles from Atlantis but I still worried about what was going on down there. The more I thought about it the more my gut twisted, I had promised to defend my father's realm but at the same time my friends were being slaughtered.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even see the skyline come into view until the hippocampus neighed, no longer willing to go inland due to the pollution. It had some choice words to say about humans and their waste but I decided not to take it too personally as I slid off the back and propelled myself to land. The city seemed too quiet on the outskirts as I crept through the streets. Every so often I'd see signs of battle, cars overturned and what looked like mangled statues? I didn't really understand that last sight but the carnage got worse as I moved to Olympus. Eventually I heard the growing roar of battle as Kronos's forces slowly surrounded the Empire State Building. I was distracted by the sound of tearing flesh, and peeked around a wall to see an empousa ripping into a carcass. I snuck up behind it and quickly stabbed it in the back. I was about to continue when I saw what the carcass was. A few strands remained of the blood stained shirt but it was impossible not to recognize the bright orange. My blood boiled with rage at the sight of someone from camp and I began to run, picking up my pace until I was only a hundred feet behind the monster army.

A few of the minions turned as I threw my shield, screaming like a Viking, and channeling water through Riptide. Safe to say I scared a couple of them as they started pushing against their fellow monsters. The shield went a couple lines deep, slicing through enemies like paper while the current of water swept another twenty off their feet. I leapt a solid ten feet and came crashing down on the back of a giant, cutting open it's back as I slid down to the ground. The monsters tried to form a defensive line to no avail as I ripped through them, my only thought of Annabeth.

Hellhounds leapt at me as I batted dracaena aside. I reached out underneath the street and bursted as many pipes as I could, flooding the streets with sewage and water. Finally for good measure I carved a path straight to the front of the line using the shield's crystal and burst through it, only to be met by a pathetically small shield line of demigods. They all stared at me like I came from hell, which from how I felt after the last twenty minutes or so probably wasn't far from the truth.

"Well? Let me in," I screamed at them as the monsters recovered from their shock and pressed the attack again.

The wall opened just an inch and I slid through before more of Kronos's goons could get a chance to die by me.

"HOLD. THE. LINE," Clarisse shouted somewhere from the right and the demigods dug their heels into the ground, but I could tell it was a losing fight. I kicked open the doors to the building, scaring some poor kid on guard duty as I marched straight up to the command table. Annabeth was there, arguing with a couple of her siblings and I cleared my throat as obnoxiously as possible. She looked up ready to kill whoever interrupted her and saw me. Now whether I was expecting tears of joy or a punch to the face I can't say, what I was not expecting was for her to flip the table over and throw a chair at me.

I ducked underneath the chair and came up just to stop a punch thrown at my gut.

"Annabeth please you can kill me after the war alright," I pleaded.

"Percy I swear on Olympus if you ever do that again," she began shouting as everyone else in the lobby backed towards the elevators. Honestly I couldn't blame them.

Finally after what seemed like five minutes of me getting ripped into Annabeth finally calmed down enough for me to respond.

"Look, I understand I'm late to the party, but I need to know what's going on. Where's Nico and his army?"

"Oh you know fighting King Minos and his army," Annabeth responded absentmindedly.

The look on my face must have been enough because she began to explain.

"Yesterday Minos appeared with a large enough force to counter Nico, apparently Kronos promised him something he couldn't resist. We got seperated and haven't seen him since. We think he's still near Central Park where we last saw him but honestly no one knows."

I wrinkled my nose at the news. This was bad. We were gonna need everyone we could get when Kronos eventually reached Olympus and it didn't help that one of the Big Three's kids was lost in the fray.

"What about the hunters," I asked hopefully.

"Up on Olympus setting up the final stand. Clarisse and her cabin are holding the line out front but obviously it's not going well as you saw."

Almost as if on cue a child of Ares came crashing through a window followed by a hellhound. He scrambled out of the way as I stabbed the beast. The rest of his cabin came sprinting in, with Clarisse being the last one followed by a massive explosion that blew out any of the remaining windows.

"We gotta go now," Clarisse snapped.

"You guys go, get up to Olympus and finish what the hunters started. I got some business to settle," I said.

Annabeth just shaked her head at this as she grabbed her dagger and followed the rest of the campers into the elevator. I watched the doors closed and returned to the subdued flames at the entrance. Once the monsters could cross safely they began streaming into the lobby, all seemingly intent on ripping me to shreds. I was happy to let them try, spinning through their ranks as I turned the room into my personal storm, a hurricane filled with as many sharp bits and bobs that I could find. Everything was going just fine until an invisible force hit me so hard that I dented the elevator doors. I shook my head as I got up and narrowed my eyes as I saw Kronos confidently stride through the lobby. He seemed indifferent to the mass casualties he suffered, instead swinging his scythe confidently. The last time I saw him he reminded me of a new born, still learning how to control his body but now he seemed at ease.

"Jackson," he snarled. "I knew the fates wouldn't be so kind as to vaporize you on that dam ship."

"What can I say," I shot back. "The fates like screwing with both our plans."

I decided to go on the offensive, shooting a beam of energy at him as I closed the distance. The beam arched off his scythe, ripping through the wall as we locked blades, both trying to force the other to yield. I swept out his legs with mine and swung down, using whatever water I could find to increase my strength. Kronos rolled to his left and shot to his feet. He spun his weapon before pressing the attack, pushing me back towards the elevator.

"It seems you've learned more about your powers boy," he mocked with fake admiration.

"Unfortunately for you Titan."

"Ha! Still as arrogant as ever. What hope do you have of stopping me," he roared.

A few months ago I would've been scared, but now I just used the water in my armor to keep up my strength, confident in my ability to at least hold him back. But I knew I needed to get up to Olympus. I desperately reached out, finding the plumbing that went underneath the building and felt the familiar pull as the water shot through the floor. With one last push I sent Kronos across the room and formed a solid wall of water between us. He roared as he struck it, but the wall was holding steady for now. I sprinted to the elevator, and desperately slapped the close button as 'Stayin Alive' filled the air.

Finally I began to shoot up and I collapsed against the railing, breathing heavily as I took in what had happened. I stabbed the air and took out the speaker, promising that the gods would get better music if we survived this. Finally the door slid open and I was met by about thirty arrows pointed at me. Thalia was the first to lower her bow as I walked across the sky bridge. She instead elected to give me a death glare that would make Ares whimper for mom as she promised that I had plenty of explaining to do.

I shivered at the thought but continued on to the palace, carefully avoiding the hundreds of traps that littered the streets. Olympus was a ghost town, with many of its residents fleeing and only a handful staying back to defend their home. Among the defenders I counted a couple minor gods, some satyrs, and a small group of Cyclopes that looked like they just came out of the forge. Not exactly the reinforcements I was hoping for, but I smiled at them all the same as they readied themselves with the rest of the campers. Chiron and Annabeth were discussing strategy at the entrance to the palace, and I briefly wondered how the hell he managed to get in the elevator as a centaur before I pushed the thought aside.

"-my cousins have all vanished or died, so they won't be here to help," Chiron was explaining to Annabeth, who seemed slightly relieved to see me alive.

Chiron on the other hand broke out into a grin, embracing me saying, "Welcome back to the fight my boy. I'm glad to see you brought some new toys from your father."

"Yea well sorry I couldn't have come sooner," I said purposely staring at Annabeth. "Poseidon needed all the help he could get down there.

"Ah yes but you're here now for the final fight and we're grateful to have you."

With that said he galloped over to Travis and Connor, who seemed to be arguing over the best way to strap explosives to the many chariots left lying around. I turned my attention back to Annabeth, who blushed slightly when I caught her studying my new armor.

"Atlantean," I said flatly, trying to figure out if she was still mad at me.

"Well it fits you better than the set I brought," she responded. "Look Percy, I'm not going to pretend I'm not mad at you for abandoning us, and honestly if we survive this I don't know what's going to happen. But for now we need to focus on the lunatic Titan currently shipping an entire monster army up to Olympus one elevator at a time.

I figured that was the best I was gonna get so I instead focused on her strategy. It seemed to be stages of defense, with the hunters being the first line followed by most of the campers and the small Olympian defense as the second. Clarisse was overseeing the final line, stationed right behind us as a last ditch effort to stop anyone. She seemed pissed she wasn't up front with the hunters, but grudgingly compiled after Annabeth explained everything.

As for me, Annabeth didn't really account for me seeing as I wasn't here at the start so I just fell back in with Thalia who looked grateful for the help.

"Long time no see cuz," she said as I jogged up.

"Yea we really need to hang out in non-apocalyptic times," I responded.

She smiled at that but settled on a grim look as the elevator door dinged.

Every bow arched back, arrows glistening in the sunlight as the doors slowly rolled open before a pack of hounds bounded out. Arrows whistled through the air as the monsters attempted to cross the bridge. The door began to open faster and faster as more monsters poured out, and it seemed like Kronos was speeding up the process a little. A hyperborean giant made it across, freezing a line of archers before it stepped on a landmine blowing it to bits.

I wiped the blue blood off my face as I drew Riptide.

"Thalia keep up the arrows, I'm going to get personal with them."

"Alright don't die, I already lost one cousin today."

"Nico isn't dead," I retorted, but the words sounded hollow even to me. Nobody had heard from him for hours and even if he was alive he'd have to fight through an endless horde to reach us.

With that gloomy thought I ran down the road, drawing water from a couple fountains on my way as I flooded the bridge, washing as many monsters over the edge as I could. A dracaena met my sword strike, but with a shove I overpowered it and batted it aside. The hunters continued their arrow fire, but even with me at the front Kronos's forces still pushed us back. Thalia dropped her bow as she ran out of arrows and drew her spear and shield, joining me at the front. Combining our powers, we kicked up a storm, whipping monsters around as hurricane conditions overtook Olympus. We seemed to be gaining the upper hand until Thalia lost her concentration as a hellhound managed to clamp down on her leg.

She screamed in pain as I stabbed the beast, blood freely flowing from her wound. The rest of the monsters howled in delight, surging forward at the first sign of weakness. I yelled in frustration, discharging a beam from my shield that ripped straight to the elevator doors. I continued the output, gritting my teeth as the shield began to burn my arm, white light glowing hotly from the center. The light grew brighter and I ripped it off my arm and threw it at the monsters, realizing it was going to explode. The shield landed in a giant's chest, burrowing deep before exploding, a sound like a nuke ripping through the air as entire buildings were leveled. Thalia and I went flying in separate directions, her crashing through a door and me landing in a garden.

I coughed up blood as I slowly pushed myself up, and with a sharp pain I realized my arm was badly burnt, many places close to the bone. I crawled over to a small creek and shoved my arm as deep as I could, relaxing as the cooling water laced through my wounds, closing as many of them as possible. I focused on the worst parts, and managed to create pockets of water that lodged themselves in my arm, letting me move on to the others. The hunters were slowly recovering, helping each other up while others laid motionless on the ground.

"THALIA," I shouted as many of the houses caught on fire, turning the entire lower portion of the city into an inferno.

I doused as many of the flames as I could, but I was on the verge of passing out and could barely stay on my feet. The hunters had started to drag their fallen sisters back to the second line, leaving a few behind to stand guard lest the remaining monsters attempted another push. I desperately tried to remember where I last saw Thalia, and kicked in the door I thought she was in. The flames rushed out at me, the outside air fueling them to almost as tall as me.

I coughed as I moved through the house, screaming Thalia's name as the house came down around me. I stayed for as long as I could, smoke pouring into my lungs as my vision turned to red. Finally I struggled back to the entrance, bursting back into the fresh air as gasped, tears freely falling down my face. One of the hunters ran up to me, shooting arrows at some of the monsters who managed to make it past the giant hole my shield had left in the street.

"Boy! Get up we have to fall back," she yelled.

"I'm not leaving her!"

"We have to go, she wouldn't want us to die with her," the huntress retorted.

I nodded listlessly as I turned my attention towards the elevator, almost freely hanging in the air from all the destruction.

"Go," I muttered. "I'm going to kill every last one of them."

The hunter started to argue, but one look from me stopped her and she turned away, retreating with her sisters back to the minor gods. I staggered to my feet, gripping Riptide tightly before running straight to the monster force, one task on my mind. I leapt across the hole, using the water in the air as a boost to make it across. I landed on a pack of hellhounds, instantly vaporizing them as I swung in a deadly circle. The rest of them tried to form a line, but I crashed into them, not even thinking about what I was doing. I felt swords and arrows bouncing off my armor, but all it did was slow me down before the attacker died.

I worked my way to the elevator, shredding enemies to paper, seeing nothing more than targets. An arrow stuck out of a chink in my armor and I roared, sending a spear of water into the archer's heart. The monsters seemed to realize they were losing and started a panicked retreat, trampling over each other as they worked their way towards the door. They stopped as the doors rolled open, Kronos stepping out with an honor guard of demigods around him. He scowled at the retreating horde and flicked his hand, sending all of them over the edge.

"Pathetic," he spat. "Retreating from a stupid boy."

I raise my sword weakly, the arrow hindering my movement but still intent on killing anything. Kronos simply laughed.

"Oh son of Poseidon how far you have fallen," false sympathy dripped with every word as Kronos spoke.

His honor guard began to move towards me as I set myself in a defensive position. My head felt woozy and I could barely stand, but I knew that if I fell now Olympus was doomed. The first demigod swung at me and I knocked the attack away, not even attempting to counter attack. Kronos just stood there smirking, clearly enjoying my pain. Suddenly I caught movement in the corner of my eye as Nico appeared in one of the shadows.

He stepped forward and snapped his fingers, black tendrils of smoke entrapping Kronos's men and hindering their vision. They began to scream in terror as Kronos whipped around, a murderous look settling on Nico.

"So that ghost failed to stop you," he drawled.

"Yea I don't know what you thought you were doing going against the ghost king," Nico spat back.

"Oh I like this, it is too bad you refused my offer son of Hades," Kronos mused. "You would've made an excellent host."

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged," Kronos surged forward, scythe aimed at Nico's legs.

Nico parried his blow away and started an offensive of his own, but he was barely able to push the Titan Lord an inch. Kronos laughed as he kept up the attack, almost in glee at Nico's desperation. Sweat dripped down his head, and Nico jumped back as he raised a squad of skeletons to distract Kronos. He shadow traveled again, this time appearing behind me as he grabbed me before I was plunged into darkness. We stumbled out next to the palace gates, the guards Annabeth assigned nearly jumping out of their armor. The last thing I saw was an Apollo camper rush over to me before I was once again plunged into darkness, this time taken by my dreams.

_Kronos sat upon a temporary throne at the bottom of Olympus, smiling as he watched our second line of defense reinforce themselves. One of the honor guards knelt before him, still twitching from Nico's attacks. _

"_Tell me Hunter, why was it you betrayed the gods," Kronos asked._

"_They left me to die, my King," Hunter responded, eyes still focused on the ground in front of him._

"_Is that the only reason," Kronos presses._

_Hunter shifted before responding, "I spent a summer at that damn camp. It was miserable. The same campers paraded around as heroes while the rest of us sat around."_

_Kronos smiles crookedly as he turned his gaze to me, "See son of Poseidon, you only have yourself to blame for the fall of Olympus. So many of your family turned against you by your own arrogant need for glory."_

_With that he beckoned Hunter away, and I flew out of the camp, feeling guiltier than ever before._

_My dreams shifted to Poseidon's palace. The front gates had been wrenched off their stands by what seemed to be a fireball, and I watched as my father deflected another one aimed for one of the balconies._

"_Is the trap set Carn," my father shouted over the chaos._

"_Yes my lord, our reinforcements are ready. We must only hold out till tomorrow." _

"_Good, then push these fools back! We must keep Oceanus distracted if this is to work."_

_With that Carn swam forward, followed by his battalion, and met the incoming enemy. My stomach twisted as I realized Oceanus had reached my father's gates, and I wished I knew what Poseidon's plan was. _

I was wrenched out of my dreams by a bucket of water to the face, and Annabeth looking down on me.

"Was it really necessary to wake me like that," I questioned her.

"No, but I wanted to anyway," she responded with a smile.

She offered her hand and I took it, pulling me up as I inspected my shoulder where the arrow hit. One of the healers had bandaged it well, but it still hindered my movement slightly. Annabeth studied it with care as well.

"Why did you go out alone," she demanded. "You knew how close he was, you should've retreated with the hunters."

"He killed Thalia Annabeth," I seethed. "I wanted to see him dead for what he did to her."

"Percy, I'm angry too. But you're our one hope at winning this. We can't let Thalia have died in vain," Annabeth said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

She helped me up as she turned towards the door, "Now come on, Hermès is about to tell us how the fight with Typhon is going, and from the way he looks, Kronos might not be our biggest issue."

Did I just kill off Thalia? Maybe. Am I gonna kill off anyone else? Idk man I'm just as in the dark about this story as y'all are. For real though I wish I had planned this out more because then I would feel a whole lot better about how many of y'all are reading this. But hey we're starting to reach the end of the story so I'll just keep stumbling along and then maybe next time I'll actually have a clue of what's going on. K thanks bye :)


	6. Chapter 6

AND HEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

We gettin close to the end here, probably like 1-2 chapters depending on how long I make them.

**Percy's Pov:**

Annabeth and I walked into the throne room, which seemed cold and desolate compared to the last time I saw it. Granted, the last time I saw it everyone was voting to kill me, but it still seemed weird to see none of the gods upon their seats of power. A man stood near the hearth, supporting himself on his staff as he talked to Hestia. I realized with shock that the man was Hermes, even though he looked homeless at best. Hermes turned towards us and attempted a weary smile saying,

"Ah the brave leaders come finally. Don't worry, it's not like we're fighting for our lives against our worst enemy."

"Lord Hermes, Percy just awoke from his injuries," Annabeth explained.

Hermes simply frowned at me before tapping me on the shoulder with his staff. Instantly I felt better, the skin reknitting itself into nothing more than a scar. I bowed to him and thanked him for the assistance.

"Yes well we can't have you defending Olympus with one arm now can we," Hermes said. "Now, on to what I came to say. You and your campers are all that's left. The gods can barely slow Typhon as it is, and with Poseidon and Hades fighting their own battles I fear the worst."

I figured this was how this conversation was going to go, but the news still hit hard. The desperation of our situation started to set in, and Annabeth took my hand saying,

"Lord Hermes with all due respect, we aren't going to simply lay over and let Kronos take over. We'll fight to the bitter end if we must."

"Yes child you will but all will be for naught if Typhon is not stopped. He will make Kronos look like a school bully, and will take Olympus down in one swipe. Our only hope now would be for one of Zeus's brothers to abandon their realms and save us, which will never happen."

As much as I wanted to defend my father, I knew this to be true. The last I saw he was desperately fighting Oceanus through the streets of Atlantis. In fact, it looked like he was losing to Oceanus, so assistance from him was not coming. I didn't know what was happening in the Underworld, but I doubted Nico was going to be followed by his father anytime soon.

Hermes looked down at his watch and sighed saying,

"Zeus is calling me back, apparently Hephaestus just damn near got sent to Tartarus from how bad Typhon hit him. Remember, keep faith and hopefully we'll find a way out of this."

With that he began to glow brightly, and Annabeth and I turned away as he showed his true form. Annabeth looked at me with a grim look, and I knew she felt how I did. Hermes had essentially just told us the gods had abandoned us. It was down to us to defend Olympus against the King of the Titans and his hordes. We were, for lack of better wording, screwed. Chiron rode into the throne room, coming to a stop when he saw us.

"I take it your council with Lord Hermes went poorly," he questioned.

"Ah yea," I responded. "The gods are getting smacked around by Typhon."

"Yes I presumed as much. The gods barely managed to stop him the last time, and with Poseidon and Hades missing, I fear they won't be able to stop him."

Annabeth straightened and looked toward the entrance.

"Well we can't dwell on that now, I plan on taking down any monster that comes near my mother's throne."

I realized that Annabeth and I had never really talked about the whole Luke-Kronos situation. The last time I tried had gone poorly to say the least, and I knew she still had feelings for him. She still believed Luke could be saved, and I had given up trying to convince her otherwise.

We walked out together and came to the makeshift camp the Aphrodite kids had set up. Annabeth went off to the command tent to work out any kinks in our final defense, and I decided to go on a walk to clear my head. I could still see the small line set up from the previous battle, slightly reinforced by the Ares cabin as Clarisse had gotten impatient. I smiled as she barked orders at campers and gods alike, the gods clearly realizing they weren't in charge. Unfortunately the defense still seemed insignificant to the monster horde that was camped only a couple hundred feet away. I couldn't see Kronos but I could feel his power radiating.

I turned away and ventured into one of the remaining gardens. It was a bitter-sweet moment as it reminded me of my mom's garden. I had no idea where she was, I just hoped that she was ok. I knew she could see the monsters so hopefully she had holed up in her apartment once she realized what was going on. I just wished I could have told her I'd be fine but I didn't even believe that myself.

I was taken out of my thoughts by whispering nearby. I instinctively tensed, hand reaching into my pocket to grasp Riptide. I crept up to a low wall, hiding behind it while I tried to figure out who was whispering. I spotted a glimmer of blond behind a tree about twenty feet ahead of me, and I ran along the wall until I was almost on top of the person.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," the person whispered. "You told me he wouldn't die and now he's gone."

"Quiet girl," I heard a raspy voice respond. "You'll do as I say if you want to avoid any other unnecessary deaths."

"How am I supposed to believe anything you say," the girl demanded.

"It's either that or we expose you to your friends."

The girl shrank at this, and her body began to quiver as she tried to catch her breath.

"Now go find out what the final defense is and report back to me. If you don't do this within the hour, I'll tell Lord Kronos you longer wish to adhere to the deal."

The spy nodded listlessly, and I heard what sounded like a radio being shut off. I slowly uncapped Riptide, ready to confront the traitor when she turned around. We locked eyes, and the fear was evident in her eyes. We both just stood there staring at each other as I tried to figure out what to say. I had been ready to confront the traitor, hell to even kill them after watching so many die, but how was I supposed to kill Silena.

"Silena…"

"Percy please," she burst into tears. "You have to help, they're gonna kill everyone and they already killed so many and it's all my fault," she heaved hysterically through tears as I let my sword fall to my side.

She ran forward and buried her face in my chest, still sobbing as she told me everything. How Luke had coerced her into helping all those years ago. How she had told them all their plans, how she had even helped Luke find the Labyrinth entrance into camp. My rage was replaced by guilt as she poured out everything onto me, about how she wanted to stop after Beckendorf but Kronos threatened to expose her.

I felt my anger boiling up again but directed at a new target. Luke had once again warped one of my friends. Forced Silena to help him for so many years while he broke every promise of his to her. I tried to calm Silena down as she slowly stopped crying. She stepped away from me and kept her eyes on the ground, not being able to meet my gaze.

"Silena, I'm not going to lie, this is really bad. If the gods find out they're going to want to kill you. We have to be careful about this," I explained.

I suddenly remembered the bracelet Kronos had showed off to me on the ship, and I grabbed Silena's sleeve, pulling it back to expose the same jewelry. I ripped the bracelet off and crushed it under my shoe.

"Alright well that's the first step," I sighed.

"Are you going to tell the others," Silena asked.

"No, they don't need to know. We can handle this our way, plus Kronos is planning a final assault anyways so it's not going to make much difference at this point."

Silena gave me one last hug before we walked back to the camp, drawing looks from some of the campers before I shot them dark enough looks that they stopped. Annabeth called us over where the remaining counselors were gathered. Annabeth had a look on her face that I couldn't decipher, but shook her head and went back to talking.

"Look, Kronos knows he has the number advantage so he's not going to waste time probing our defenses. He's going to charge straight down the middle and overwhelm us. That's why we need to set traps and fall back strategically," she argued with Clarisse.

"That sounds an awful lot like running away Bird-Brain," Clarisse growled.

"It absolutely is running away, but with a tactical twist. If you have a better idea I'm all ears."

Annabeth admitting her plan was desperate surprised me. She looked expectantly at everyone before locking eyes with me. She blinked and I swore I saw a tear almost form before she gave one final address.

"We need to prepare for the end. This is it. This is our last stand. Let's at least make it a good one."

With that she stormed out of the tent, hiding her face but I knew she was on the verge of tears. The counselors looked depressed as they shuffled off to their respective areas, Clarisse slamming her fist on the table before striding off to the front line. Silena was close behind her, both of them clearly arguing. I sighed and went off in Annabeth's direction, determined to find her. I finally stumbled across her rummaging through a small armory. I knocked quietly on the door as she whipped around, still wiping tears from her face.

"Go away Percy, I'm fine."

"Clearly you aren't so talk to me."

She froze before turning around with rage,

"You wanna talk? Fine let's talk. Let's talk about how you abandoned the camp to go help your dad. Let's talk about how many campers died while you fought for some stupid sea palace that doesn't matter. Let's talk about how I lost Thalia just to see you on a suicide mission straight for Kronos. You'd be dead if it weren't for Nico," she spat, her voice raising with every word. "Let's talk about how the one time I needed you to back me up on a plan, you're off gods only know where and then stroll back with Silena like nothing happened."

I hadn't even realized she had gotten up until we were only a couple inches away. I finally realized just how awful she looked. She had cuts and bruises everywhere and looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"Annabeth please just come with me, look I'm sorry but I had to go. Tyson would be dead if I hadn't," I whispered. "Let's just go get you cleaned off and find you a bed."

"No Percy, you wanted to know what's wrong and now you do. And just like everything else you want to act like it isn't happening. You went to your father because it was an escape. An escape from this pointless attempt to stop him."

With that she stormed past me and left me with my thoughts. Nico appeared from the shadows causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

"Not the way you wanted that to go," Nico asked.

"Not at all."

"Percy, we can get a fighting chance. You just need to trust me."

"What do you mean Nico," I questioned.

"How do you think Luke was able to be used as a host," Nico prodded.

"Skin care regiment?"

Nico rubbed his forehead,

"Percy this isn't a joke. He bathed in the Styx. He's as strong as Achilles."

"I know Nico, but I can't take that risk. I don't know how he survived, but I doubt it was easy."

"Yes but my father would know."

Now Nico had really lost it. Gods knew the moment I stepped in Hades' palace he would send me to Elysium the hard way. Hell, he'd probably pull some strings and put me in Asphodel for a bit.

Nico continued,

"He's been down there for thousands of years. He'll know how to complete the process."

"And what if he just kills me on the spot," I pointed out.

"He won't! At least I don't think he will," Nico trailed off.

"Great. Well I can't think of anything else and Kronos probably won't attack till night anyways so we've got half a day. Can you shadow travel both of us?"

"Yea just give me a second," Nico stared with concentration.

Suddenly my vision went dark as I went through the process again. Last time I had been almost dead and on the verge of passing out, but this time I got the full experience. It felt like I was strapped to the outside of a fighter jet as wind howled around me almost ripping my skin off.

Suddenly we stumbled into a poorly lit hallway. The end had a doorway guarded by two skeletons who immediately raised their weapons at me. I grabbed Riptide as they started to charge, but they came to a stop as Nico stepped out in front of me.

"STOP. I'm here to see my father, and this one is with me," Nico commanded.

The skeletons came to a stop, confused but not willing to deal with Nico. We marched past them and opened the door to the throne room of Hades. Hades watched us approach, clearly bored as Persephone was arguing with Demeter about something. Demeter kept waving a bowl around and looked like she was about to carve out someone's skull with a spoon but I tried to not let that bother me. Nico knelt before his father while I elected to stand.

"Father, I've come for your help," Nico spoke.

"No I will not help the son of Poseidon," Hades yawned as he bit into an apple.

"But Father, he has to receive the blessing to defeat Kronos!"

"And make him more powerful? The idiot already possesses enough power without me having to aim accurately to kill him."

I tightened my grip on my sword as he said this.

"Try it boy, you'll die before your father even realizes what's going on," Hades warned.

He snapped his fingers and skeletons poured into the room, armed to the teeth with weapons ranging from swords to assault rifles. Nico backed up in shock as I just sighed. Really I couldn't understand how Nico didn't see this coming.

"Now, surrender to me Perseus and I will delay your torture," Hades leaned forward. Persephone and Demeter had stopped arguing, clearly more interested in us.

"Over my dead body Hades," I spat back.

Even as I said that I realized just how screwed I was. I had no armor, no shield, and only a sword against the literal armies of hell. I decided negotiating might be the slightly better option here.

"Why not help us Hades," I questioned. "Don't tell me you actually want Olympus to fall.

"I could give less of a dam if that place fell," Hades seethed. "When have they ever done anything for me, for my children? This idiot -glaring at Nico- still doesn't even know what Zeus did to us!"

"You do realize that if Olympus falls you'll be next right?"

"Kronos has already attempted once and we beat him off, we'll do it again."

"You beat him because he was merely distracting you," I said.

"Son of Poseidon, you take me for a fool, but I know what I'm doing. Nico here will win the war. He will bathe in the Styx after I explain the process and then we will hold till his sixteenth where he will stroke my father down."

I glanced at Nico who seemed to be just as surprised at this as me.

"Yes," Hades drawled on, "I know he is weak now but give it a year with the best heroes training him and he will make you look like a mortal."

"Father we have to unite to win this," Nico protested.

"The boy has a point," Demeter muttered. "Even if we stop Kronos Typhon will lay waste to the land. You've already failed to handle the influx of the dead. The underworld will collapse with more."

"Persephone, please tell your mother to keep her opinions to herself," Hades sighed.

"No. I want to leave this cave," Persephone pouted. "My mother is right, and I don't want to hide in your palace for the next couple years."

I lowered my sword ever so slightly as I realized most of the gods in the room were on my side. Hades furrowed his brow in thought, and finally relented.

"Fine Persephone, but this is my deal. I help this boy, and Demeter stops coming here with you," Hades proposed.

Demeter boiled with anger, but one look from Persephone and she sulked off, muttering about gods and doctors.

Hades turned back to me and began to explain the process. How Luke had used a familial blessing to prepare his body, and a lifeline to hold him to mortality when he entered the Styx. As I listened I realized I was going to have to talk to my mom about this and that alone scared me. I had been able to push her out of my head and hope she was safe in her apartment, but now I had to possibly confront an ugly truth. Hades finished his explanation, and the smirk on his face confirmed that he knew what I had to do. I sighed as I turned to Nico.

"Let's get this going then."

Nico just nodded and grabbed my arm before the now familiar sensation hit me. We reappeared in the hallway of my mom's apartment and I uncapped Riptide, creeping forward as I listened for anything. Nico and I made the only noise, but outside I could hear car alarms blaring through the evening, and I wondered where the rest of Manhattan was for the first time. I hoped Kronos hadn't murdered an entire island, but I didn't have much faith in his humanity. I jiggled my mom's door before using the jolt of my sword to knock off the doorknob. I slowly pushed the door open to a dark apartment. Nico nodded at me as I walked into the apartment with Nico behind me. Suddenly Nico was tackled to the ground as I caught a blade aimed for my neck with Riptide. I whirled on my attacker and lost all concentration when I realized it was my mom.

"Dammit Percy! You can't just break in like that without warning," my mom berated me. She dropped her sword as she began to inspect me, making comments about the bruises and cuts from battle. Nico slowly backed away from Paul who looked just as wary about the situation.

"Nico this is Paul; Paul this is Nico," I quickly introduced them before something else happened.

"Mom I'm glad you're alive but I need your help," I said, turning back to my mom.

We gathered in the living room while my mom whipped up some sandwiches. Paul told me about how for the past two weeks news channels had been telling all of Manhattan to evacuate. He said they blamed the storm surges, but I knew it was Kronos clearing the way for his war. My mom sat with Paul as Nico and I ate, stopping only to answer my mom's questions. Leave it to my mom to always know I hadn't eaten a good meal in a while.

"Ms. Jackson, your son has to do this," Nico pressed. "If he doesn't we stand no chance against Kronos. And we can surprise him by still having Percy wear his armor."

"And if he loses his mortal connection during the process," my mom asked. "What good is he if he's dead."

Paul listened to them argue before interjecting saying,

"Sally, I agree it's dangerous, but it sounds like they need to throw a Hail Mary at this point. If they don't, Kronos is going to rip through them."

Tears formed in my mom's eyes as she took my hand and gave me her blessing. I half expected some mystical light to appear, but the only thing I heard was the clock on the wall ticking away. Nico stood up and brushed the crumbs off himself, thanking my mom.

My mom engulfed me in a hug, telling me how proud she was of me no matter what. It felt a little too much like a final send off for me, and I promised her I would return.

"By the end of this I'll be more used to shadow travel than I will the ocean," I joked as Nico and I prepared to head back to the Underworld.

"Yea you think that and then you end up in the Bahamas on accident," Nico responded.

I raised my eyebrow at that comment but elected not to say anything as we reappeared on the banks of the Styx. It honestly didn't seem like some great power giving river. It was pretty normal looking once you got past the fact that it was located in the Underworld.

"So do I just jump on in or…," I asked.

Nico looked stumped as well until he pulled his sword and pointed it at the bank of the river.

"Show yourself spirit," he yelled defiantly.

A armor clad figure shimmered into existence and strolled over to us. He crossed his tree trunk sized arms and stared at me.

"So you will attempt to join the other one in power," it questioned.

"He has to Achilles," Nico responded. "If he doesn't, Kronos wins."

Achilles merely huffed and stepped to the side. He seemed apathetic to us, which I guess makes sense since no one was listening to his warnings.

"Ok Percy, remember what you need. You need to find one point on your body where you'll remain mortal," Nico reminded me. "And don't break your connection. It's gonna be really bad if I go back to Olympus without you."

"Thanks Nico," I rolled my eyes before walking to the river.

I stood on the edge of the river, and imagined where my weak spot would be. I settled on the top of my left rib cage, a spot that seemed pretty easy to protect without it being somewhere questionable. I looked back at Nico who's facial expression gave me zero confidence and sighed before stepping foot into the water. Now in hindsight I should've just cannon-balled on in even though it seemed ridiculous at the time. But me falling face first in the moment my foot went underwater was definitely more embarrassing. The pain was somewhere between cheese grating my face and being dragged through a cactus field naked as the river swept me away. The worst part was realizing I couldn't breathe. I panicked as water filled my lungs and my vision began to black before I felt something grab my hand. I managed to look up to see someone standing on the edge of the beach. I swam up trying to ignore the pain as I broke the surface to find myself in the ocean by camp.

Annabeth was tracing her hand through the water as a blissful sense of peace set over me. She seemed somber but accepting and I realized this must have been shortly before the camp had left for Manhattan. I could see campers moving supplies to the top of the hill in the distance, but Annabeth seemed to be focused on the water.

"Come back," she whispered. "Don't leave me to fight this alone."

I swam over to her, my body starting to weigh down in the water the closer I got. I struggled to keep my head above the water as Annabeth slowly got up and began to walk away. I felt something boiling in my stomach and pushed as hard as I could towards the surface. Suddenly I burst out onto the beach, causing Nico to day some not-so-nice things in Greek. I coughed up water as I slowly got to my feet, vision slowly returning to normal. Nico slowly approached me, clearly not sure if I was still normal.

"Percy," he asked.

I turned to him just as I saw the javelin fly through the air. I surged forward, pushing Nico down as the javelin hit my dead in the chest. And broke to splinters. Fine wooden shavings coated Nico below me, who simply stared with an open mouth. Before either of us could speak a battalion of monsters appeared from the darkness, led by a Titan with ram horns on his head.

"Nico get out of here," I screamed.

He nodded and shadow traveled away, appearing behind a rock out cropping about fifty feet away. I uncapped Riptide as the monsters kept charging, intent on turning me into dinner. I decided to go down heroically, and charged forward with no armor and only my sword. Flipping over the first monsters I crushed a dracanae under my feet and swept my sword in a circle. Fine clouds of dust erupted into the air and I used the confusion to strike forward, continuing my path to the Titan. I felt something in my stomach, and started to grin as I realized none of the monsters could hit me. It felt like my father's armor cranked to the extreme as I dodged and weaved through monster after monster, cutting them all down. Riptide became a part of me, no different than my hand as it sliced through the hordes. Finally I used a giant as a launch pad as I sailed through the air towards the Titan.

He barely had time to raise his sword as we locked on, his eyes burning with hate.

"I'll rip you to shreds Jackson," he snarled.

I kicked his feet out from underneath him and cut his sword hand off as he went down. He cried out in pain as I stood above him. I smiled down at him as he tried to crawl away.

"Well, that was pathetic," I said as I twirled my sword through the air before plunging it down into his chest.

He screamed in agony before glowing brightly. I dove away as his body exploded, the heat burning away my shirt. I jumped up waiting for the next monster to attack only to find Nico speechless in front of me.

"You… you just…," he stammered out.

"Well I think it worked," I said.

"Oh really, you don't say," he responded sarcastically.

"Well that's done, we better leave before your father finds a reason to kill me."

Nico nodded as he grabbed my arm one more time, enveloping us in darkness as we reappeared in the center of the camp. The sun was setting as we dropped into the impromptu mess hall, causing Connor Stoll to fall out of his chair in panic. Annabeth stood from her chair as she studied me and I realized I was still shirtless.

"What did you do," she demanded.

"He leveled the playing field," Nico responded.

Annabeth still looked confused so I sighed and grabbed a knife from the table and swung it at my stomach. She cried out before stopping as the knife broke against my skin.

She looked confused and then shocked saying,

"You didn't…"

"Yea, I did. I did what I had to do to beat Kronos," I responded.

"Sorry I'm still confused, why did Percy just break a knife like a brick wall," Connor asked.

"I bathed in the Styx and was blessed by the Curse of Achilles," I told him.

"Oh."

Annabeth looked like she was about to kill me but was interrupted by Clarisse running into the tent.

"Kronos is coming and he's not stopping," she panted.

Howls broke through the peaceful sunset as we all ran towards the front line, ready to fight one last time.


	7. Chapter 7

What's up here's chapter 7

**Percy's Pov:**

We raced to the front lines as the howls grew louder. But by the time we got there we were too late. Kronos pulled his scythe out of the chest of a minor god and smiled at me. Mixtures of ichor and blood pooled around his feet as he stepped over corpses. Clarisse made a strangled noise and I realized most of the bodies were her cabin. One of them, a boy no more than thirteen, reached out to Clarisse before Kronos stomped on his neck. I had to hold Clarisse back from charging the Titan, promising her we'd kill him together.

"Well Jackson, will you continue to let others die in your place," Kronos challenged.

"You'll pay for every death Kronos," I promised.

Kronos merely smiled and pointed his scythe forward, and the monster horde surged in front of him. Greek fire ripped across their ranks from our traps and the remaining archers rained hell down upon them, but it barely stopped their advance. Nico stepped forward and raised a battalion of the dead with a swipe of his hand. They cracked from the ground and formed a ghoulish line in front of us. On Nico's command they charged forward, meeting the monsters head on. We followed behind them, Clarisse vaulting over the undead before ripping through the monsters. She whirled through their ranks, dust piling behind her as she swung her spear in a deadly arc. I followed behind her, covering her rear as we worked our way towards Kronos. Nico began to waver from raising his army, and one of the Apollo campers helped him to the back.

Clarisse and I were halfway to Kronos when everything hit the fan. I whipped my head back as a loud scream came from our ranks. A lone hellhound had bounded past our ranks and was about to rip Annabeth's chest open when a shimmer of blond tackled it to the ground. I realized it was Silena as she tried to fight it off before being overpowered and having her throat ripped out. Annabeth jumped on its back and sunk her knife into its neck, but it was too late. Even from here I could see the blood coursing through the stones from Silena.

"JACKSON," Clarisse roared.

"We have to go back," I yelled as I ducked a swing from a telekhine.

"No we're too close!"

"But Silena-"

"I know," she cried out. "We have to stop Kronos though. Don't let her fall in vain."

She kicked a sword away before spearing the attacker in the neck. I attacked with renewed vigor, my anger clouding my thoughts as I fought on. Kronos noticed us finally and waved us hand, sending his honor guard of demigods to meet us. The monsters had started to form a ring around us, none of them really wanting to fight after we ripped through their ranks. The honor guard shoved through the monsters and leveled their swords at us. All of them were clad in black armor that covered everything but their eyes. The leader stepped forward and removed his helm, revealing an eyepatch I'd never forget.

"Ethan," I spat.

"Percy," he grinned. "Once again you're on the losing side. Do you still believe in your pathetic cause? Or are you ready to bow down to the true Lord."

"The only one who will be bowing is you after I run my spear through you," Clarisse growled.

Ethan merely smirked before tossing his helmet to the side.

"I want you to see the hatred in my eyes when I kill you Jackson," he seethed. "Maybe then you'll realize how ridiculous your attempts to befriend me are."

He ran forward, followed by the rest of his followers. Clarisse threw her spear, bouncing it off the head of one of the men. They fell to the ground dazed as Clarisse drew twin swords and met the strikes of two others. Ethan sent a blow to my head that I barely deflected away. We began to trade strikes, neither of us gaining an advantage. Every once in a while I'd have to knock away a strike from one of the others but they mainly seemed to be distracted by Clarisse, who was brutalizing anyone who came in her path.

Ethan noticed this and I saw the anger flare in his eyes. The monsters around us continued the assault on our friends behind us, no longer fearful of us. Finally Ethan made a mistake and overstepped, letting me sweep his legs out from underneath him. He went sprawling as one of his comrades came to his defense. This one clearly was the weakest as I disarmed him with five strikes and ran my sword through his stomach. Riptide came out covered in blood, and I felt disgusted with myself. Kronos had turned demigods against each other, and it meant now I had to fight real people, not just monsters.

Ethan had managed to get to his feet and resume his fight with me. Clarisse had recovered her spear and ripped through another enemies' neck before twirling and kicking another in a chest. A pile of bodies already stacked around her, and she clearly didn't have the same qualms about killing demigods. Ethan and I locked swords as we came within an inch of each other.

"Ethan," I said. "Look at this! Kronos is making us fight each other! He wants us divided! Do you really think you'll have a place in his kingdom?"

"More than I'll ever have at your camp! Stuck in the Hermes cabin, unclaimed because my mother isn't good enough for you," he snarled.

I shoved him away, cutting off his sword hand as I twirled away. He fell to the ground, clutching his stump and blood flowed freely from it. Clarisse finished off the last of the honor guard as she kicked the lifeless body to the ground before joining me. The monster force had completely moved past us, and only Kronos remained about two hundred feet, still motionless on his throne.

Ethan slowly got to his feet and picked up his sword, but it was little better than a club in his weak hand. He sent an uncontrolled swipe at me and I batted it aside, tacking him to the ground as I pinned him. I tried to hold him down but he bucked me off and scrambled to his feet before being kicked down again by Clarisse.

"Ethan please I don't want to do this," I begged him.

He merely smiled and began to speak before Clarisse's spear protruded from his stomach. He looked down at the spear point before she pulled it out. He fell to his knees as he looked towards the sky.

"Jackson, I want you to know that you'll never win this war," he whispered. "Too many demigods have been left behind, too many…"

"Come on Percy," Clarisse said flatly. "We've got a Titan to kill."

Kronos smiled crookedly as we approached.

"You must be slowing down," he said. "That took longer than I expected."

"Their blood is on you Kronos," I spat.

"Quite the contrary Jackson, look at your sword. Their deaths, and the deaths of everyone in this war is all on you. Especially the daughter of Zeus."

I felt the anger rising in me as I leapt forward, intent on killing Kronos finally. He rolled out of his throne and knocked away my strike with his scythe. We circled each other as Clarisse joined me.

"Daughter of Ares, do you really wish to die with him," Kronos questioned.

"Preferably I'll be the one to kill him, but you're far more annoying than him."

Kronos merely smiled before charging forward. I met his blade as Clarisse tried to gut his side. He pulled a short black sword out of nowhere and deflected her blow. We pushed him back to his throne, trading blows as the fight dragged on. I could hear the war behind us, but I couldn't focus on that. Kronos was moving too fast and if I lost concentration he'd knock me into Idaho.

Clarisse stabbed forward and Kronos side stepped, slashing his sword through her spear before kicking her a good ten feet. He started towards her but I jumped in his path as Clarisse slowly got up. Kronos snarled before resuming his attack on me.

"Give it up Jackson! Even now the gods fall to Typhon!"

A shimmering image of the storm monster appeared in front of me. Typhon smashed through a _Welcome to Chicago _sign as the gods darted around him. The city seemed largely evacuated, but I still saw some mortals killed by falling buildings as Typhon trampled through the city. I could tell the gods were desperate as Athena desperately slashed at the giant's feet, trying to trip it.

"Look at the pathetic rulers of Olympus," Kronos crowed. "Look how they fail to stop Typhon as he ravages this mortal realm!"

I gripped Riptide tight in anger but I knew he was right. The gods didn't stand a chance. Hell, Zeus barely even looked like he was still fighting as he sluggishly threw lightning bolts at Typhon's face. Suddenly the entire image shook as massive fissures appeared in the ground. Kronos looked on in shock as thousands of skeletal warriors crawled from the depths of hell. Finally Hades shot out behind them, a beacon of death with an army numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

"FORWARD," Hades bellowed as his forces charged Typhon. Hundreds were destroyed by Typhon's feet but still they reached him. They began to crawl up the body of the giant, nothing more than tiny specks across his entire body. The gods rallied to Hades, who drove his chariot straight into Typhon's throat, causing the beast to stumble. The remaining skeletons on the ground began to use anchors of bone to hold Typhon in place, and finally as his entire body was covered in white he fell, a massive thunder blast cracking through the sky as Typhon hit the ground.

Kronos screamed in anger and jumped through the image, renewing his attack on me.

"No matter," he spat. "I'll simply kill you and the gods when they get here. Clarisse finally rejoined the fight and was still keeping up with me as we held Kronos to his ground. I could still hear the monster horde behind us, but it seemed like they were diminishing. But Clarisse and I got overconfident, and I lunged too hard. Kronos batted me with the butt of his scythe and I crashed into a statue. Clarisse doubled her efforts, but without me helping her Kronos quickly overpowered and drew a large cut on her leg. She collapsed in pain and he dragged her over to me and held his scythe at her neck in front of me.

"Watch Jackson. Watch as another of your friends die because of you," he snarled.

"Don't stop Percy," Clarisse shouted as she tried to break his grip. "You have to stop him no matter the cost!"

Kronos laughed as he raised his scythe above his head, slowing down my movements as I tried to stop him. Just as he was about to swing down, he was sent flying into a nearby house by a blast of water. I surged forward as I caught Clarisse and dragged her out of the way. I looked where I saw the water come from and nearly dropped my sword. There stood my father, surrounded by hundreds of Cyclopes armed to the teeth. Kronos emerged from the house and narrowed his eyes when he saw Poseidon. Poseidon radiated with blue power as he charged forward, his army moving to help Annabeth with the remaining monsters. Poseidon and Kronos locked blades as I ran to help my father.

Poseidon shoved Kronos off and swung his trident like a golf club, sending a wave of water into the Titan Lord's face. I followed up with my own jet of water that sent Kronos through another wall.

"Percy," my father exclaimed. "It's good to see you my boy."

"Why are you here? What about Atlantis," I questioned.

"Tyson made me realize my mistakes. Family is more important than a palace, and I can't let my son fight my father by himself."

Kronos staggered out of the house with a look of murder on his face.

"I'll drag you through Tartarus myself Poseidon," he screamed.

"Percy, let's send him there the hard way," Poseidon said as he spun his trident.

"Gladly," I responded, thinking of everyone who died before me.

We met Kronos head on, and my father and I became an unstoppable force. It was like we had been fighting for years together as we seamlessly dealt blow after blow to Kronos. The Titan Lord tried to defend himself, but we kept backing him up until we were almost at the palace of the gods. Kronos's army had been defeated, and the Cyclopes and demigods watched on as we continued to fight. Poseidon sent a devastating kick to Kronos that sprawled him on the steps of the palace. I swung down and he just managed to block my blade with his scythe, but my father came from above and slammed his trident into the Titan's head. I disarmed him as my father's blow left him dazed. Poseidon pinned Kronos by his throat as a dozen Cyclopes came forward with chains and cuffs that radiated power.

Kronos fought to break loose but I sent another blast of water into his face, and the Cyclopes began to chain him. With each chain added he fought less and less, until Kronos laid motionless on the ground, unable to move from the amount of chains on him.

Poseidon smiled as he grabbed on to me and teleported us with Kronos to the ocean. The Titan's eyes burned with hate as Poseidon opened a whirlpool straight to Tartarus and threw Kronos in. I heard a muffled roar of anger as Kronos disappeared from sight and the whirlpool closed. My dad embraced me in a hug as all we heard was the peaceful lull of the ocean.

"So many died Dad," I started. "So many died before you and Hades came. Why?"

My father sighed, "Percy the gods are set in their ways and that will always be our downfall. We have a harder time grasping mortality since we are immortal. But that is no excuse and I'm sorry."

I nodded, not accepting the answer but realizing pressing him more wasn't going to help me. Poseidon teleported us back to the palace, where our forces had begun to clean up. My stomach twisted as I saw the amount of bodies covered by sheets. The cyclopes had set up a defensive grid around the palace, and Carn had joined Annabeth in maintaining the defense.

"Where's Tyson," I asked my dad.

"Back at Atlantis, we had to leave a small defense force to not raise suspicion from Oceanus," my father explained.

"What if Oceanus assaults the palace?"

"He won't, most of his forces had been defeated by the time I set out to Olympus. In fact I no longer sense his presence near my palace so he must have found out Kronos was defeated."

I breathed a sigh of relief as Tyson was as close to safe as he could be now. We approached the command table as Annabeth and Carn saw us.

"Where's Kronos," Annabeth asked.

"On a waterslide to Tartarus," I smiled.

She gave me a brief smile before focusing on Carn again.

"We need to ensure there are no more pockets of resistance in the city," she explained.

Carn nodded at this and began to send runners to his men, informing them to check every building and report back. Poseidon headed towards the palace where the rest of the gods were gathered. Carn looked between Annabeth and I before excusing himself.

"Annabeth we never got to talk after our fight."

"Percy, I can't take back what I said. But I want you to know I didn't mean it. I was worried about everything and I thought we were doomed. I didn't want you to go and risk your life though."

"It was necessary, without the Styx I would've died. Kronos would've destroyed Olympus."

She sighed and muttered something about curses. There was an awkward pause before Travis Stoll walked in.

"Hey the gods are holding a meeting in the throne room, they want everyone there," he informed us.

We began to walk to the throne room and I finally got to see just how much of Olympus had been ruined. Entire blocks were reduced to rubble and I did not want to think about how many of my friends were buried amongst the rubble.

"Did… Did we find Thalia," I slowly asked Annabeth.

"Yea," she said wiping a tear out of her eye. "She was trapped under rubble which kept the fire from getting to her but they think she died of smoke inhalation." 

My gut twisted when she told me this. So many people had died since Luke betrayed the camp all those years ago. It took so long for us to stop Kronos and we barely even stopped him. I was taken out of my thoughts as we entered the throne room. All the gods stared down at us as they ceased their conversation. Poseidon's army and the camp were situated in a ring around the room. Carn nodded at me before returning his attention to Zeus.

"Ah the brave leaders of the camp finally join us," Zeus boomed.

Annabeth and I bowed before Zeus continued.

"Now, we know Kronos is gone but there is still the matter of the other titans. Some of them have already sent messages begging for peace but others remain unknown. Most notably of these unknown is Oceanus."

"Oceanus is in my domain," Poseidon started. "As soon as I return to my kingdom I will hunt him day and night until he is brought in for trial. Last reports still numbered his army around ten thousand so I'm sure Atlantis will be dealing with insurgencies in the coming months."

Zeus seemed appeased with this and turned to Annabeth and I. He motioned to the other campers and Clarisse and Nico pushed their ways to the front and made their way to us.

"These four demigods have demonstrated ultimate valor in the defense of Olympus. And while I may not agree with some of them -Zeus stared at me- I cannot deny their actions. Without them, control of Olympus surely would've fallen into the Titan Lord's hands."

The other gods nodded in approval.

"Therefore prizes are in order," Zeus continued. "Clarisse, daughter of Ares, the gods have realized that the defense of Olympus is flawed. An enemy can easily distract the gods leaving little to nothing in the way to stop an assault on our home. We noticed your prowess in fighting on the front lines during this war and are willing to give you the rank of Lead Defender of Olympus."

Clarisse stared in shock before Ares coughed and brought her back from her shock. She quickly dropped to one knee saying, "Lord Zeus I graciously accept this role."

"Good," Zeus responded. "You will be responsible for the training of the new army we are conscripting. No longer will Olympus have such a weak defense."

He turned to Nico,

"Son of Hades, it was due to your constant pestering that your father finally relented to come to our aid. As much as I hate to admit it, without him Typhon would've destroyed us. Even with Hades it was a hard won battle. Therefore I wish to make you an ambassador between the Underworld and Olympus. You will continue to keep relations in good standard between the two kingdoms."

"No," Nico said flatly.

Zeus tensed, clearly not used to somebody saying no.

"And please tell me why you wish to refuse my offer," he asked, a hint of anger in his tone.

"I don't belong in Olympus," Nico began. "I do my best by myself. I have no wish to be trapped in a role. Plus I have my own goals to accomplish."

Zeus started to argue but one look from Hades and he stopped, clearly not wishing to destroy the fragile alliance they had.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Annabeth, Daughter of Athena, as you can clearly see Olympus has been wrecked. While you managed to stop Kronos from his promise of the complete annihilation of my city, it still needs work. Furthermore I wish to modernize our defense systems. You will join Clarisse in the planning of our defense while simultaneously rebuilding the city."

Annabeth kinda just stood there in shock until I nudged her and she shook her head before graciously accepting it. I could already see the plans forming in her head and knew that she'd be impossible to reach for the next few weeks at a minimum.

"PERCY JACKSON," Zeus boomed. "Yes, unfortunately I must thank you for your heroics. While you did spend the first half of the war in the damn ocean -he stared at Poseidon who raised his hands in defense- you still managed to duel Kronos and live, a feat not many accomplished. Your father and yours actions to finally rid us of the threat Kronos brought to us cannot go without note. However, as previously mentioned Oceanus is still a threat. I want you to lead the strike force of Poseidon's army to neutralize him and truly end this war."

I was shocked by this. I mean surely Carn would be better equipped to lead this.

"You would leave immediately and not return till the mission is accomplished," Zeus continued. "What do you say to this?"

I thought about everything that had happened. How Kronos came to power and how I spent the last 4 years fighting him. How I missed so much of my life because of this war. Annabeth was looking at me with concern in her face and we locked eyes. That decided it.

"Lord Zeus I have a counter offer," I proclaimed.

Zeus looked ready to kill me after yet another demigod refused his offer.

"I understand the importance of Oceanus," I started quickly. "But I'm only sixteen. I want to live my life a little, not get into a second war. But I do want something."

"And pray tell me what that would be," Zeus muttered while rubbing his temples.

"Claim your children, all of them."

All the other gods suddenly became very interested as they leaned forward.

"That goes for all of you," I said, staring each of them in the eyes.

"What do you mean Percy Jackson," Hermes questioned.

"Stop cramming the Hermes cabin with the unclaimed. Kronos rose to power not because of monsters, but because of angered unclaimed kids who felt abandoned. They were the ones who carried strike after strike against us. And I'm sick of killing demigods. We lost too many campers over the years to Kronos because they felt they didn't have a home."

"Now hold on-," Ares started but I interrupted him.

"And claim your kids. There's no reason for them to show up to camp and not be claimed by the next campfire. Also get rid of this stupid big three rule. Clearly none of you can maintain it and we need to train these powerful demigods instead of just voting to kill them every time they pop up."

A couple of the gods looked ready to kill me right there, Zeus included. But thankfully the vast majority seemed to agree with me in some regard.

"He's right brother," Poseidon addressed Zeus. "We have been foolish in our ways."

The other gods slowly began to murmur their agreements and it seemed like I had the support of the campers and Poseidon's army. Zeus noticed this as well, and narrowed his eyes at me before speaking.

"Very well Perseus. If this is what you wish we will abide by that."

"Swear it on the Styx."

Annabeth grabbed my hand and I could feel the fear in her as she thought Zeus was about to send me to an early death. But I knew this was necessary. Without that bind the gods would forget in a month.

"We swear on the Styx," Zeus growled. Immediately thunder clapped through the sky, and many of the gods looked at me with mixed emotions.

"Well then if we are done with this… award ceremony," Zeus started. "I believe a feast is in order."

He clapped his hands and tables of food appeared stretched around the entire throne room. The Muses kicked up a song and the gods began to mingle with the remaining citizens of Olympus. Annabeth pulled me over to a corner where the noise was slightly dulled.

"Percy what the hell were you thinking," she demanded. "You just stood up to the Olympians and made demands nobody has ever made before. I'm surprised Zeus didn't kill you on the spot!"

"They know they need us Annabeth. And plus you have to admit I'm right. This war would've never happened had the gods not been such deadbeats to their kids."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at this.

"The gods are always going to be deadbeats Percy. Nothing is going to change that."

"Well we can try, and the gods had a wake up call with this war. They realized they became too complacent."

Annabeth looked at me before pulling me into a hug. She buried her head in my chest and I hugged her tighter.

We pulled away but were still inches from each other's faces. I thought about everything that had happened, from waking up to her looking at me all those years ago to nearly dying with her on more occasions than I could count. But my mind centered on that one day in the mountain, before I vaporized St. Helens and awoke Typhon. And I pulled her into a kiss. We stayed there for what felt like an eternity before someone cleared their throat behind me.

Annabeth and I separated quickly to see Poseidon and Athena staring at us. My dad had the biggest grin on his face while Athena looked like she wanted to use me as target practice.

"Well I guess we found them," Poseidon said, still trying to suppress his smile.

"Yes," Athena said icily, "well Annabeth if you're not too… distracted… I was going to speak with you on the task Zeus assigned you."

Annabeth nodded her head up and down and hurried away with her mom with her face still bright red.

Poseidon burst out into a hearty laughter as they rounded a corner and clapped me on the back.

"Well son I wasn't sure you were ever going to make a move but you finally figured it out," he said with a smile.

"You knew," I asked.

"Of course I knew boy the whole damn world knew," Poseidon rolled his eyes. "But I'll give you a break, you had the war and everything. Anyways I wanted to give you a proper goodbye before I returned to the ocean. I have much to plan for the next phase of my war."

"Dad I didn't refuse to join you because I don't want to help you."

Poseidon held up his hands saying, "I don't blame you son. In fact, I'm glad you refused. You need to train at camp, and my war is no place for you. Hell, it's barely even a place for Tyson. I've bested Oceanus before and this time will be no different. The coward simply wishes to draw out his defeat."

With that he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Remember Perseus, whatever happens in these coming months, you are and always be my favorite child."

I had a smile on my face as we pulled away.

"Does that mean I've got more siblings on the way?"

"No promises." Poseidon winked as he dissolved into mist.

I shook my head and smiled and started to make my way back to the banquet before having a better idea. The elevator doors creaked open as I approached them, and I was pretty worried they were going to plummet on more than one occasion. But I finally made it to the bottom where my mom looked like she was about to kill the security guard who coincidentally returned _after _the danger was gone.

"I'm going up there if I have to rip through the gods themselves," my mom said with a fire I hadn't seen in a while.

I cleared my throat saying, "Um mom I just got out of a war, let's not start another one."

She turned and launched herself into me with a hug. I felt the tears come and tried to hold them back as Paul smiled off to the side.

"Oh Percy it was awful. We could see Kronos march his army through the lobby and then nobody ever came back down."

"Yea stuff got a little tense up on Olympus but I'm ok," I assured her.

After she finally pulled away from me I walked with Paul and her back to the apartment. Apparently the news had gotten out that it was safe to return as I saw cars streaming into the city. Nobody really seemed to question the wanton destruction around them as they swerved around destroyed cars and rubble like it was just another pothole. As we arrived at her apartment my mom asked me if I would stay the night.

"No I need to get back to camp. We… we have a lot of dead to honor," I said with a lump in my throat.

She nodded in understanding before pulling me into one final hug. Paul shook my hand and pulled me into a hug before I said my goodbyes. I thought about how I was going to get back to camp before I saw an abandoned motorcycle that still had the keys in it. I thought about it for a second before grinning and hopping on.

"Oh no you don't," I heard behind me as Annabeth walked up.

I groaned and got off.

"I was going to return it," I whined.

"Uh huh, sure," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Anyways Athena arranges for Blackjack to come get us so you don't have to 'borrow' a vehicle."

As she said that I saw a black figure appear on the horizon as my Pegasus came into view. He greeted us and we climbed on and rode back to camp. As we landed we began to prepare for the mass funerals we had to go through. Campers slowly trickled back in, many of them bearing the covered bodies of their brothers and sisters who had fallen.

Zeus personally delivered Thalia, and Annabeth immediately burst into tears when she saw her. I pulled her into a hug and tried to hold back my own tears and Zeus carefully laid her in the spot we had prepared before walking off wordlessly. After many speeches of individual valor from all the deceased, we lit the shrouds and watched silently as they burned.

Later that night we all gathered around the campfire, and the Apollo cabin started a sing along. Our mood improved as the night went on as we sang about courage and victory and life in Elysium. Everyone was still sad about the war, but it was nice to just be normal for a night. To not have to worry about a crazed titan lord trying to kill us. Eventually campers began to dwindle off as the night went on until it was only Annabeth and I.

"So Seaweed Brain what now," she asked.

"What do you mean?"

She shifted to where she was looking me in the eyes.

"I mean what are you going to do now? You're only sixteen, and school could still be a factor for you," she said softly.

My throat constricted as I realized what she was asking. She didn't care about school. She wanted to know about us.

"Annabeth… I don't know what I'm going to do. I mean I just got out of a war. I don't know if school is really going to work for me right now."

"Athena got me into an architecture school in Manhattan."

My surprise must have been evident on my face as she punched me saying, "Don't look so shocked, some of us actually care about school."

I made a face at her before responding.

"I'm happy for you Annabeth, really. So does this mean I'll get to see you more."

"Well of course idiot," she rolled her eyes. "Besides, even with the war over you'll still find a way to get into trouble. Somebody needs to watch your back."

I smiled at this and we went back to watching the fire slowly trickle down, but I still felt warm inside. Annabeth yawned and stretched as she got up, offering her hand to me.

"Come on Percy, it would be ironic if we got eaten by the harpies."

I snorted and took her hand, walking her back to her cabin before returning to mine. It felt like forever since I smelled the salt water in the air as I pushed the door open. But I noticed a strange blue tint glowing near the back. As I investigated I came across a shield that looked exactly like the one my father had given me. A note laid beside it, luckily in ancient greek so my eyes didn't go as cross eyed reading it. 

_Perseus, _

_ I once again must commend you on your actions. Without you Olympus would've fallen and my kingdom would be in ruins. Even now we close on Ocenaus's position, and I can smell the victory in the sea. I know you took a dip in the Styx, which even for one of mine was a stupid move by the way, but that doesn't mean I can't make sure you are well equipped. Here is another shield imbued with the power of Atlantis. You'll find it is almost a one to one recreation of the one you so aptly destroyed. Try to keep this one for more than a month, these crystals are hard to come by._

_Remember no matter what you are always my favorite,_

_Poseidon _

_P.S. _

_ The design was Tyson's doing. He said you would understand. _

I picked up the shield tenderly and sure enough it felt exactly like the old one. But as I turned it over I noticed the engravings. Gone was the trident, replaced by far more detailed carvings. As I focused on them I realized they were of me and my friends. They depicted many of the moments Tyson and I had shared, but the center-piece was the most ornate. It showed me standing in front of the gods, and I realized it was when I challenged the gods to claim their children and stop abandoning us. I hung the shield on the wall and climbed into bed, falling asleep as I watched the patterns on the shield.

The next day seemed like nothing had ever happened to the camp. Chiron was intent on getting us back to our training, as he reminded us that the monster threat was always out there. The weeks began to fly by as I threw myself into my training, trying to avoid the decision I had to make. My mom had already invited me back home, regardless of if I went to school or not, and Chiron had offered to train my full time in the off months of camp. Between the two of them and Annabeth, I found my only escape was the sword arena, where I spent most of my days practicing and occasionally sparring anyone who would challenge me.

Annabeth finally managed to corner me one day in the sword arena, arms crossed as she blocked my only exit.

"Percy you realize there's only a day left before you have to decide what you're doing right?"

I sighed and sat down.

"I know but I just don't know. I've never stayed at camp year-long before, but at the same time I want to train."

Annabeth joined me on the ground as we talked. The hours slipped away as we talked about anything, but mainly about what I was going to do. Finally as the sun was setting behind the trees I felt like I finally had an answer. Chiron tried and failed to hide his pleasure when he heard I accepted his offer to become his full time student. My mom took it better than I imagined, as she simply reminded me that I always had a home with her. It also helped that Chiron reassured her that I'd still be getting schooling. I winced at that as I knew Chiron would push me to stay focused in school.

Finally the last day of camp came and I sat with Peleus as we watched everyone run down to their families. Annabeth was the last to leave as she stayed with me for a bit.

"How are you getting to the school," I asked.

She pointed down the hill where Argus waited with one of the vans. He waved up at us and went back to reading his book.

"Well I guess it's time for me to go," Annabeth said, the sadness visible in her tone.

"You'll do great," I promised. "Plus Chiron is allowing me to take weekends off if I want so I'll be able to visit you and my family a lot."

She smiled at this and gave me a light kiss before pulling me into a hug.

"Stay safe Seaweed Brain," she whispered.

"You too Wise Girl."

She walked down and got in the van with Argus, giving me one final wave before they drove off. I looked at the camp below me, and even though it was close to empty it still felt like home. About twelve other campers chose to stay year round, many of them with no homes to go to. Chiron was also optimistic about new recruits as Grover had led an army of satyrs across the country intent on finding all the demigods the gods suddenly knew about. Camp was finally going to return to how I first found it, and that brought a smile to my face as I approached Chiron for my first lesson.

Alright well holy shit we made it! So I'm going to be honest I never actually expected to finish this story but the support from y'all has been great. The final chapter wasn't the greatest but overall I'm not too disappointed in the story. There will be a sequel so stay tuned for that.


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